The effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, and community homogenization on resilience in estuaries Technical Report
- Author
- Thrush, S. F., Halliday, J., Hewitt, J.E., Lohrer, A.M.
- Year
- 2008
- Journal / Source
- Ecological Applications
- Volume
- 18
- Number
- 1
- Month
- January
- Pages
- 12-21
- Keywords
- Cumulative effects, Estuaries, Landscape, Macrobenthic community, Mahurangi Harbour, Metacommunity, Recovery, Resilience
- Summary
- This paper summarises a disturbance-recovery experiment across gradients of community type and environmental conditions to assess the roles of ecological connectivity and regional variations in community structure on the recovery of species richness, total abundance, and community composition in Mahurangi Harbour, New Zealand. THREATS IDENTIFIED AND/OR DESCRIBED: Habitat modification, eutrohpication, pollution SCOPE OF SPECIES, HABITATS AND ECOSYSTEMS IMPACTED: Benthic fauna, estuarine systems SPATIAL EXTENT OF THREAT STUDIED: Mahurangi Harbour TEMPORAL EXTENT OF THREAT STUDIED: 394 days DATASETS USED IN THE ANALYSES: Sediment characteristics, macrofauna abundances METHODOLOGY USED TO IDENTIFY AND DETERMINE SEVERITY OF THREAT: Treatment (defaunated) and control plots at seven sites throughoutb the estuary, monitored recovery over time KEY FINDINGS OF THE ANALYSIS: Significant differences in recovery between sites were apparent after 394 days. Statistical models suggested that a combination of physical and ecological features operating across spatial scales controlled community recovery rates. The dynamic and complex interplay of ecological and environmental processes observed to drive patch recovery across the estuarine landscape are integral to recovery from disturbances in heterogeneous environments.
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