Multidisciplinary baselines quantify a drastic decline of mussel reefs and reveal an absence of natural recovery

The onset of the Anthropocene has coincided with enormous global declines in natural ecosystems, leading to losses in the valuable goods and ecosystem services they provide. This global decline, in conjunction with growing recognition of the ecological importance of natural ecosystems, has generated a pressing need for restoration. Effective ecosystem restoration relies on accurate identification of the cause of decline and clear metrics of success, which are only possible with baseline data of both the pre-degradation and pre-restoration ecosystems. However, the establishment of these baselines can be difficult as different potential information sources each have benefits and drawbacks. Determining an efficient method to balance these diverse information sources and generate robust baselines is vital to achieving the United Nations' goal of massively scaled-up ecosystem restoration. Here we expand on the concept of multidisciplinary baselines, or the combined use of sources and methods across a wide disciplinary spectrum to establish comprehensive and reliable ecosystem baselines, and use mussel reefs in the South Island of New Zealand as a test case. Using a combination of comprehensive historical review, extensive shoreline surveys, and local ecological knowledge, we demonstrate that local mussel abundances decreased by 97% since the mid-1960s as a result of overharvesting, leaving the extant populations scattered, small, and without recovery. This study demonstrates that harnessing multidisciplinary baselines allows for the consolidation of qualitative and quantitative estimates of ecosystem change over hundreds of years, as well as confirmation of causes of ecosystem degradation, and clear documentation of current ecosystem state beyond what is possible from any individual source. This approach to establishing ecosystem baselines also provides valuable avenues for the advancement of restoration by quantifying the temporal and geographic scales of ecosystem decline, identifying areas for intervention, and establishing clear metrics of success.

Automated summary

The onset of the Anthropocene has resulted in significant global declines in natural ecosystems and the valuable goods and services they provide, necessitating ecosystem restoration. However, restoring ecosystems effectively requires accurate identification of causes of decline and clear metrics of success, which can only be achieved with baseline data of pre-degradation and pre-restoration ecosystems. This study demonstrates the use of multidisciplinary baselines in the restoration of mussel reefs in New Zealand, showing how combining various sources and methods allows for comprehensive and reliable assessment of ecosystem changes and confirmation of causes of degradation. This approach provides valuable insights for restoration efforts in quantifying the scales of decline, identifying intervention areas, and establishing metrics of success.