Brown, Christopher J., Campbell, Max D., Collier, Catherine J., Turschwell, Mischa P., Saunders, Megan, and Connolly, Rod M. (2024) Speeding up the recovery of coastal habitats through management interventions that address constraints on dispersal and recruitment. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 291 (2027). 20241065.

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Abstract

Plans for habitat restoration will benefit from predictions of timescales for recovery. Theoretical models have been a powerful tool for informing practical guidelines in planning marine protected areas, suggesting restoration planning could also benefit from a theoretical framework. We developed a model that can predict recovery times following restoration action, under dispersal, recruitment and connectivity constraints. We apply the model to a case study of seagrass restoration and find recovery times following restoration action can vary greatly, from <1 to >20 years. The model also shows how recovery can be accelerated when restoration actions are matched to the constraints on recovery. For example, spreading of propagules can be used when connectivity is the critical restriction. The recovery constraints we articulated mathematically also apply to the restoration of coral reefs, mangroves, saltmarsh, shellfish reefs and macroalgal forests, so our model provides a general framework for choosing restoration actions that accelerate coastal habitat recovery.

Item ID:	85791
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1471-2954
Copyright Information:	© 2024 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funders:	Australian Research Council (ARC)
Projects and Grants:	ARC DP180103124, ARC FT210100792
Date Deposited:	11 Jun 2025 01:11
FoR Codes:	31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 50% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410405 Environmental rehabilitation and restoration @ 50%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1802 Coastal and estuarine systems and management > 180206 Rehabilitation or conservation of coastal or estuarine environments @ 100%
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