Business as usual leads to underperformance in coastal restoration

This chapter shows that coastal wetland projects are underperforming because of confirmation bias. Despite two decades of work showing that top-down control can be essential to marsh restoration, the potential role of top predators is typically ignored by those responsible for restoring or maintaining marshes. Similarly ignored are experiments that indicate positive interaction between marsh plants and can enhance the pace and success of restoration. By planting marsh plants at higher densities, marsh restoration success can double, and seagrass restoration can succeed in the face of increasing drought and eutrophication effects. Continued failure to integrate top-down control and facilitative species interactions into coastal restoration designs will result in widespread underperformance of wetland conservation projects and unrealized generation of important ecosystem services.

Duke Scholars

Author Brian Reed Silliman Marine Science and Conservation