DUGiDocsEvaluating success in macroalgal forest restoration: indicators for biodiversity and functional recovery
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ENG- Centuries of human activity have degraded Earth’s ecosystems. In response, ecological restoration has been increasingly practised to reverse this decline by re-establishing fully healthy, self-sustaining ecosystems where both biodiversity and functioning are repaired. Surprisingly, in the field of marine restoration, particularly for macroalgal forests, the knowledge related to the indicators to assess functional recovery remains limited. Most evaluations have been based on parameters related to the structural species, such as species survival and cover. Moreover, these assessments are often limited to short-term monitoring (typically less than two years), while full ecosystem recovery generally requires much longer timeframes. Therefore, one of the current gaps in the macroalgal restoration framework is the lack of long-term evaluations that incorporate indicators reflecting different components of biodiversity and functional recovery. In the Mediterranean Sea, shallow macroalgal forests are dominated by Cystoseira, Gongolaria and Ericaria species, being highly productive habitats that sustain rich biodiversity. In this thesis, we used as a case study a restoration action that reintroduced the structural species Gongolaria barbata in the Bay of Maó, Menorca (NW Mediterranean). We assessed biodiversity and ecosystem functioning a decade post-restoration. Our objectives were to evaluate the recovery of the associated macroalgal and invertebrate species, as well as key ecosystem functions and processes, such as habitat provisioning and primary production. Overall, our work provides practical examples to help identify which indicators are most useful to determine when, and to what extent, current restoration actions are effective. Importantly, we observed significant differences in ecosystem functioning between healthy (either mature or restored) and degraded habitats, therefore, we advocate for precautionary initiatives to conserve and protect existing well-preserved marine macroalgal forests
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