Aiding coastal wetland restoration via the belowground soil microbiome: an overview

Abstract

The United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration was announced in 2021 to highlight the need for collective efforts to revive degraded ecosystems. Plant above‐ and belowground microbiomes are fundamental to plant health and ecosystem functioning. Plant aboveground microbiomes have received considerably more attention than the belowground microbiome, especially in the context of coastal plant restoration. Thus, there is fundamental gap in our understanding of the role belowground microbiomes play in restoration success in saltmarsh and mangrove ecosystems. Here, we outline potential pathways and challenges associated with including the belowground microbiome in mangrove and saltmarsh restoration via a conceptual framework and an overview of current literature. We highlight the large gap of knowledge that exists in plant–microbe literature as it pertains to coastal restoration warranting future research. More research is needed to significantly advance both fundamental and applied knowledge through better understanding of the importance of coastal microbiomes to restoration success by stakeholders and funding bodies.

Synthesis of special feature —Tailored Restoration Response: Predictions And Guidelines For Wetland Renewal

“…(P22): In their work, Birnbaum and Trevathan‐Tackett (2023) highlighted the large gap in microbial knowledge related to coastal restoration (Fig. 7).…”

“…A conceptual depiction of how pristine coastal community (A) may form diverse established associations with microbial and a degraded coastal communities may lose beneficial plant–microbe associations (B) in the coastal wetland settings (reproduced from Birnbaum & Trevathan‐Tackett 2023). …”

Integrating soil microbial communities into fundamental ecology, conservation, and restoration: examples from Australia

“…Potential pathways and challenges associated with including the belowground microbiome in mangrove and saltmarsh restoration via a conceptual framework, with a focus on Australia were presented (Christina Birnbaum, University of Southern Queensland). There is a large gap of knowledge that exists in plant–microbe literature as it pertains to coastal restoration warranting future research (Birnbaum & Trevathan‐Tackett, 2022). More research is needed to significantly advance both fundamental and applied knowledge through better understanding of the importance of coastal microbiomes to restoration success by stakeholders and funding bodies.…”

Microbiome-assisted restoration of degraded marine habitats: a new nature-based solution?

“…Mangroves (Figure 2) -Mangroves are highly productive and valuable habitat-forming species in tropical marine ecosystems, that are facing a rapid human-induced decline worldwide and need large-scale restoration interventions (Romañach et al, 2018;Birnbaum and Trevathan-Tackett, 2022). Mangrove restoration is technically feasible in appropriate locations (Lewis, 2005), but projects often have failed because of the unsuitability of the transplanting sites (Lee et al, 2019), largely associated with the presence of plant growth-promoting microbiota living in the sediment (Holguin et al, 2001).…”

“…The failures obtained so far in mangrove restoration, suggest the need to explore in more detail the mangrove-microbe interactions and develop microbial-based interventions (Lee et al, 2019;Allard et al, 2020;Birnbaum and Trevathan-Tackett, 2022).…”