Shorebirds-driven trophic cascade helps restore coastal wetland multifunctionality

Chunming Li, Jianshe Chen, Xiaolin Liao, Aaron P. Ramus, Christine Angelini, Lingli Liu, Brian R. Silliman, Mark D. Bertness and Qiang He ()
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Chunming Li: Fudan University
Jianshe Chen: Fudan University
Xiaolin Liao: Nanjing Forestry University
Aaron P. Ramus: University of North Carolina Wilmington
Christine Angelini: University of Florida
Lingli Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Brian R. Silliman: Duke University
Mark D. Bertness: Brown University
Qiang He: Fudan University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Ecosystem restoration has traditionally focused on re-establishing vegetation and other foundation species at basal trophic levels, with mixed outcomes. Here, we show that threatened shorebirds could be important to restoring coastal wetland multifunctionality. We carried out surveys and manipulative field experiments in a region along the Yellow Sea affected by the invasive cordgrass Spartina alterniflora. We found that planting native plants alone failed to restore wetland multifunctionality in a field restoration experiment. Shorebird exclusion weakened wetland multifunctionality, whereas mimicking higher predation before shorebird population declines by excluding their key prey – crab grazers – enhanced wetland multifunctionality. The mechanism underlying these effects is a simple trophic cascade, whereby shorebirds control crab grazers that otherwise suppress native vegetation recovery and destabilize sediments (via bioturbation). Our findings suggest that harnessing the top-down effects of shorebirds – through habitat conservation, rewilding, or temporary simulation of consumptive or non-consumptive effects – should be explored as a nature-based solution to restoring the multifunctionality of degraded coastal wetlands.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43951-3

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