Coastal ecosystems have drastically declined in health and size across the globe. Habitat restoration is one strategy that managers can use to accelerate recovery. For restoration to be successful however, it is necessary to identify and address potential knowledge gaps and review whether the field has tracked scientific advances regarding best practices.
In this project, Dr. Brian Silliman, Duke University, and an international team of researchers has produced a series of papers and resources outlining how positive species interactions can improve restoration success. Through literature reviews and experiments, they have tested configurations in restoration site design that can increase effectiveness of restoration across oyster reefs and seagrass beds.
Papers on Identifying priorities and addressing challenges for coastal restoration
- Challenges for Restoration of Coastal Marine Ecosystems in the Anthropocene Abelson, A., Reed, D.C., Edgar, G.J., Smith, C.S., Kendrick, G.A., Orth, R.J., Airolodi, L., Silliman, B., Beck, M.W., Krause, G., Shashar, N., Stambler, N., Nelson, P. (2020) Challenges for Restoration of Coastal Marine Ecosystems in the Anthropocene. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.544105
- Climate Change, Human Impacts, and Coastal Ecosystems in the Anthropocene He, Q., and Silliman, B.R. (2019) Climate Change, Human Impacts, and Coastal Ecosystems in the Anthropocene. Current Biology, 29(19) 1021-1035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.08.042
- A Global Synthesis Reveals Gaps in Coastal Habitat Restoration Research Zhang, Y.S., Cioffi, W.R., Cope, R., Daleo, P., Heywood, E., Hoyt, C., Smith, C.S., Silliman, B.R. (2018) A Global Synthesis Reveals Gaps in Coastal Habitat Restoration Research. Sustainability, 10(4), 1040. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10041040
Papers on Leveraging Positive Species Interactions to Improve Coastal Restoration Success
- Inclusion of Intra- and Interspecific Facilitation Expands the Theoretical Framework for Seagrass Restoration Zhang, S.Y., Gittman, R.K., Donaher, S.E., Trackenberg, S.N., van der Heide, T., Silliman, B.R. (2021) Inclusion of Intra- and Interspecific Facilitation Expands the Theoretical Framework for Seagrass Restoration. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.645673
- Megafauna in Salt Marshes Gaskins, L.C., Paxton, A.B., Silliman, B.R. (2020) Megafauna in Salt Marshes. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.561476
- Facilitating Better Outcomes: How Positive Species Interactions Can Improve Oyster Reef Restoration Reeves, S.E., Renzi, J.J., Fobert, E.K., Silliman, B.S., Hancock, B., Gilies, C.L. (2020) Facilitating Better Outcomes: How Positive Species Interactions Can Improve Oyster Reef Restoration. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00656
- Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success Temmink, R.J., Christianen, M.J., Fivash, G.S., Angelini, C., Bostrӧm, C., Didderen, K., Engel, S.M., Esteban, N., Gaekle, J.L., Gagnon, K., Govers, L.L., Infantes, E., van Katwijk, M.M., Kipson, S., Lamers, L.P.M., Lengkeek, W., Silliman, B.R., van Tussenbroek, B.I., Unsworth, R.K.F., Maryam Yaakub, S., Bouma, T.J., van der Heide, T. (2020) Mimicry of emergent traits amplifies coastal restoration success. Nature Communications.
- Coming to Terms with Living Shorelines: A Scoping Review of Novel Restoration Strategies for Shoreline Protection Smith, C.S., Rudd, M.E., Gittman, R.K., Melvin, E.C., Patterson, V.S., Renzi, J.J., Wellman, E.H., Silliman, B.R. (2020) Coming to Terms With Living Shorelines: A Scoping Review of Novel Restoration Strategies for Shoreline Protection. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00434
- Positive Ecological Interactions and the Success of Seagrass Restoration Valdez, S.R., Zhang, Y.S., van der Heide, T., Vanderklift, M.A., Tarquinio, F., Orth, R.J., Silliman, B.R. (2020) Positive Ecological Interactions and the Success of Seagrass Restoration. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00091
- Harnessing Positive Species Interactions to Enhance Coastal Wetland Restoration Renzi, J.J., He, Q., Silliman, B.R. (2019) Harnessing Positive Species Interactions to Enhance Coastal Wetland Restoration. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00131