Journal
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
Volume 24, Issue 11, Pages 5218-5230Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14426
Keywords
biological invasion; blue carbon; carbon sequestration; coastal vegetated habitats; mangrove; saltmarsh; seagrass
Funding
- Smithsonian Institution
- Irish Research Council
- Marie Curie Actions
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Human-caused shifts in carbon (C) cycling and biotic exchange are defining characteristics of the Anthropocene. In marine systems, saltmarsh, seagrass, and mangrove habitats-collectively known as blue carbon and coastal vegetated habitats (CVHs)-are a leading sequester of global C and increasingly impacted by exotic species invasions. There is growing interest in the effect of invasion by a diverse pool of exotic species on C storage and the implications for ecosystem-based management of these systems. In a global meta-analysis, we synthesized data from 104 papers that provided 345 comparisons of habitat-level response (plant and soil C storage) from paired invaded and uninvaded sites. We found an overall net effect of significantly higher C pools in invaded CVHs amounting to 40% (+/- 16%) higher C storage than uninvaded habitat, but effects differed among types of invaders. Elevated C storage was driven by blue C-forming plant invaders (saltmarsh grasses, seagrasses, and mangrove trees) that intensify biomass per unit area, extend and elevate coastal wetlands, and convert coastal mudflats into C-rich vegetated habitat. Introduced animal and structurally distinct primary producers had significant negative effects on C pools, driven by herbivory, trampling, and native species displacement. The role of invasion manifested differently among habitat types, with significant C storage increases in saltmarshes, decreases in seagrass, and no significant effect in mangroves. There were also counter-directional effects by the same species in different systems or locations, which underscores the importance of combining data mining with analyses of mean effect sizes in meta-analyses. Our study provides a quantitative basis for understanding differential effects of invasion on blue C habitats and will inform conservation strategies that need to balance management decisions involving invasion, C storage, and a range of other marine biodiversity and habitat functions in these coastal systems.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available