Abstracts

To develop the following abstracts, the editorial staff searches more than 100 scientific journals, professional and organizational newsletters, conference proceedings, and other resources for information relevant to ecological restoration practice and research. Please send suggested abstract sources to the editorial staff (ERjournal@aesop.rutgers.edu).

Climate Change

A Systematic Review of Ecological Attributes that Confer Resilience to Climate Change in Environmental Restoration. 2017. Timpane-Padgham, B (School for Marine and Envtl Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, britta.timpane-padgham@noaa.gov), T. Beechie and T. Klinger. PLOS ONE 12:e0173812. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173812

Restoration projects are increasingly subject to the long-and short-term influences of climate change. Effective restoration must provide for an ecosystem’s ability to both resist change and recover from the increased disturbances accompanying a changing climate, but most studies include either but not both of these attributes in their definition of resilience. This review examines current literature on ecological resilience to identify key attributes that lead to better climate change resilience. The authors identified common factors that confer ecosystem resilience in general and then applied a “climate filter” to narrow down which factors specifically applied to climate change. The authors identified 45 factors, categorized them as individual-, population-, community-, ecosystem-, or process-level attributes and created a decision support table for practitioners to prioritize specific factors at specific restoration scales. The authors also found that ecological attributes such as increased diversity, connectivity, and habitat heterogeneity and were commonly associated with increased resilience and call for the clear inclusion of resilience in restoration planning objectives.

Coastal & Marine Communities

Accounting for Life-History Strategies and Timescales in Marine Restoration. Montero-Serra I. (Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, monteroserra@gmail. com), J. Garrabou, D.F. Doak, L. Figuerola, B. Hereu, J-B. Ledoux and C. Linares. Conservation Letters doi: 10.1111/conl.12341

Understanding the trade-offs between life history stage and demographic rates is imperative to the success of marine restoration projects. Most species targeted for marine-focused restorations are habitat-forming species, particularly those that can be propagated vegetatively because bypassing early-developmental stages generally yields increased success in establishing new populations. The authors used demographic monitoring, literature review, and population models to investigate transplant dynamics of sessile marine organisms. Colonies of Corallium rubrum (red coral), transplanted in the Mediterranean basin, were monitored for four years and survival rates were compared to natural control populations. Survival and reproductive rates of transplanted colonies did not differ from natural populations, however transplanted colonies were dominated by small individuals and lacked the structural complexity of wild populations. Based on models, the authors estimated that a comparable size could be reached 30–40 years post-transplant. This study highlights the importance of understanding life histories and time scales in restoration projects, especially in cases where the goal is not just to establish a new population, but to restore complex ecosystem services provided by mature communities.

Habitat use by Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa): Experiments with oyster racks and reefs on the beach and intertidal of Delaware Bay, New Jersey. Burger, J. (Rutgers, The State University of NJ, New Brunswick, NJ, burger@biology.rutgers.edu) and L.J. Niles. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 194:109–117. doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2017.04.025

Intertidal habitats are shrinking due to sea level rise. This is particularly critical in mudflats that, besides being used for human activities, host migratory bird species that must feed in mudlfats before completing their migration. Any disruption in food supply or feeding times jeopardizes reproduction and survival of migratory birds. In the United States, shorebird populations have declined over 60% in 30 years, mostly attributed to difficulties in foraging while migrating. This study evaluated how artificial structures such as oyster reefs and aquaculture racks affected the occurrence of red knots and five other species of shorebirds that feed on horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay, New Jersey before migrating north. Sections of beach containing oyster racks were compared to control areas lacking racks. Red knots and other shorebirds foraged less in the section containing oyster racks, highlighting the high sensitivity...