Restoring rocky intertidal communities: Lessons from a benthic macroalgal ecosystem engineer

Alecia Bellgrove; Prudence F McKenzie; Hayley Cameron; Jacqueline B Pocklington

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.02.012

Restoring rocky intertidal communities: Lessons from a benthic macroalgal ecosystem engineer

Mar Pollut Bull. 2017 Apr 15;117(1-2):17-27. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.02.012. Epub 2017 Feb 12.

Authors

Alecia Bellgrove¹, Prudence F McKenzie², Hayley Cameron³, Jacqueline B Pocklington⁴

Affiliations

¹ Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Warrnambool Campus, P.O. Box 423, Warrnambool, Victoria 3280, Australia. Electronic address: alecia.bellgrove@deakin.edu.au.
² Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Warrnambool Campus, P.O. Box 423, Warrnambool, Victoria 3280, Australia. Electronic address: prue.francis@deakin.edu.au.
³ Deakin University, Geelong, Australia; School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Warrnambool Campus, P.O. Box 423, Warrnambool, Victoria 3280, Australia. Electronic address: hayley.cameron@monash.edu.
⁴ Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Marine Invertebrates, Museum of Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Electronic address: jacqueline.pocklington@ncl.ac.uk.

PMID: 28202275
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.02.012

Abstract

As coastal population growth increases globally, effective waste management practices are required to protect biodiversity. Water authorities are under increasing pressure to reduce the impact of sewage effluent discharged into the coastal environment and restore disturbed ecosystems. We review the role of benthic macroalgae as ecosystem engineers and focus particularly on the temperate Australasian fucoid Hormosira banksii as a case study for rocky intertidal restoration efforts. Research focussing on the roles of ecosystem engineers is lagging behind restoration research of ecosystem engineers. As such, management decisions are being made without a sound understanding of the ecology of ecosystem engineers. For successful restoration of rocky intertidal shores it is important that we assess the thresholds of engineering traits (discussed herein) and the environmental conditions under which they are important.

Keywords: Facilitation; Foundation species; Fucoid algae; Hormosira banksii; Positive interactions; Sewage.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Ecology
Ecosystem*
Environmental Restoration and Remediation*
Phaeophyceae*
Seaweed