A keystone mutualism underpins resilience of a coastal ecosystem to drought

被引：102

作者：

Angelini, Christine ^{[1
]}

Griffin, John N. ^{[2
]}

van de Koppel, Johan ^{[3
,4
,5
]}

Lamers, Leon P. M. ^{[6
]}

Smolders, Alfons J. P. ^{[6
]}

Derksen-Hooijberg, Marlous ^{[6
]}

van der Heide, Tjisse ^{[6
]}

Silliman, Brian R. ^{[7
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Florida, Dept Environm Engn Sci, Engn Sch Sustainable Infrastruct & Environm, POB 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA

[2] Swansea Univ, Dept Biosci, Singleton Pk, Swansea SA2 8PP, W Glam, Wales

[3] Royal Netherlands Inst Sea Res, Dept Estuarine & Delta Syst EDS, Postbus 140, NL-4400 AC Yerseke, Netherlands

[4] Univ Utrecht, NIOZ Yerseke, Postbus 140, NL-4400 AC Yerseke, Netherlands

[5] Univ Groningen, Groningen Inst Evolutionary Life Sci, Conservat Ecol, POB 11103, NL-9700 CC Groningen, Netherlands

[6] Radboud Univ Nijmegen, Inst Water & Wetland Res, Dept Aquat Ecol & Environm Biol, Heyendaalsweg 135, NL-6525 AJ Nijmegen, Netherlands

[7] Duke Univ, Nicolas Sch Environm, Dept Marine Sci & Conservat, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd, Beaufort, NC 28516 USA

来源：

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | 2016年 / 7卷

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

SALT-MARSH DIEBACK; SPARTINA-ALTERNIFLORA; POSITIVE INTERACTIONS; SHIFTS; RESTORATION; IMPACTS; FLOW;

D O I：

10.1038/ncomms12473

中图分类号：

O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

Droughts are increasing in severity and frequency, yet the mechanisms that strengthen ecosystem resilience to this stress remain poorly understood. Here, we test whether positive interactions in the form of a mutualism between mussels and dominant cordgrass in salt marshes enhance ecosystem resistance to and recovery from drought. Surveys spanning 250 km of southeastern US coastline reveal spatially dispersed mussel mounds increased cordgrass survival during severe drought by 5- to 25-times. Surveys and mussel addition experiments indicate this positive effect of mussels on cordgrass was due to mounds enhancing water storage and reducing soil salinity stress. Observations and models then demonstrate that surviving cordgrass patches associated with mussels function as nuclei for vegetative re-growth and, despite covering only 0.1-12% of die-offs, markedly shorten marsh recovery periods. These results indicate that mutualisms, in supporting stress-resistant patches, can play a disproportionately large, keystone role in enhancing ecosystem resilience to climatic extremes.

引用

页数：8

共 35 条

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