Making Restoration Effective for Dynamic Coastal Wetlands

To halt and reverse the trends of ecosystem loss and degradation under global change, nations globally are promoting ecosystem restoration. Restoration is particularly crucial to coastal wetlands (including tidal marshes, mangrove forests, and tidal flats), which are among the most important ecosystems on Earth but have been severely depleted and degraded. In this review, we explore the question of how to make restoration more effective for coastal wetlands in light of the often-overlooked dynamic nature of these transitional ecosystems between land and ocean. Currently, restoration efforts have focused on removing anthropogenic threats, habitat reconstruction, and planting foundation species, often with mixed success and high costs. The challenges largely lie in the abiotic and biotic dynamics of these transitional ecosystems, including (i) fluctuating environmental stresses, (ii) variable trophic and nontrophic species interactions, (iii) changing connectivity with adjacent land, sea, and freshwater systems, and (iv) accelerating climate change, including sea level rise, droughts, and storms. Future restoration should explicitly account for these abiotic and biotic dynamics from threat removal to habitat reconstruction, assisted succession, and post-restoration management. We highlight novel yet practical measures to enhance success. In the coming decades, bending the curve of coastal wetland loss and degradation globally also requires better understanding of the abiotic and biotic dynamics of these transitional ecosystems prone to change, using this understanding to develop innovative restoration approaches, and applying new approaches to upscale restoration in synergy with socioeconomic development. Critical to these efforts are collaborations among ecologists, policymakers, business investors, restoration practitioners, and the many millions of people dependent on coastal wetlands.