Mangrove clearing impacts on macrofaunal assemblages and benthic food webs in a tropical estuary

Bernardino, Ângelo F.; Gomes, L.E. de O.; Hadlich, Heliatrice Louise; Andrades, Ryan; Correa, Lucas Barreto

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.11.008

Cited by 53 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The Benevente and Piraquê-Açu mangrove forests were sampled near the seaward region, whereas the Vitória Bay mangrove forest was sampled in the inner estuary as the seaward forests had been lost due to urbanization. At the Piraquê-Açu estuary, a second sampling site (RPA) where mangrove clearing previously occurred was used to determine the effects caused by land use (e.g., forest clearing) on OC dynamics (Bernardino et al 2018b).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use impacts on benthic bioturbation potential and carbon burial in Brazilian mangrove ecosystems

Bernardino

Sanders

Bissoli

et al. 2020

Limnology & Oceanography

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The potential of Blue Carbon as an integral part of global climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies requires quantification of drivers and rates of organic carbon (OC) burial and storage. However, there is limited recognition of how land use impacts benthic assemblages, their bioturbation potential, and OC burial in mangrove forests and tidal flats. Here we evaluated the effects of mangrove deforestation on benthic bioturbation potential (BPc), sediment accretion rates (SARs), and OC and total nitrogen (TN) burial in mangrove soils and tidal flat sediments from three estuaries in tropical Brazil. SARs based on 210 Pb dating varied significantly among undisturbed estuaries (2.1-18.6 mm yr −1) and the OC and TN burial rates were respectively 46% and 16% higher than global averages. The cleared mangrove sites had a twofold lower SAR, 40-fold lower OC burial, and over 100-fold lower TN burial when compared to undisturbed forests, revealing the pervasive impacts of land use. Variation in benthic assemblage structure and BPc among sites suggests that the composition and activity of macrofaunal communities may facilitate OC burial in some cases, yet the global extent and significance of bioturbation requires further study. Our work reveals a strong spatial variability in C burial in undisturbed mangrove forests and a decreased capacity of mangroves to accumulate C and sediments due to land use effects.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use impacts on benthic bioturbation potential and carbon burial in Brazilian mangrove ecosystems

Bernardino

Sanders

Bissoli

et al. 2020

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…Brazil is no exception. Nearly 50,000 ha of mangroves in Brazil have been converted to other land uses (4% of total mangrove area; e.g., Bernardino, Gomes, Hadlich, Andrades, & Correa, ) with shrimp farming responsible for 20%–50% of the total converted area (FAO, ; Lacerda, ). Degradation of coastal ecosystems by this land use is not limited to the confines of the shrimp ponds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shrimp ponds lead to massive loss of soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in northeastern Brazilian mangroves

Kauffman

Bernardino

Ferreira

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

115

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Mangroves of the semiarid Caatinga region of northeastern Brazil are being rapidly converted to shrimp pond aquaculture. To determine ecosystem carbon stocks and potential greenhouse gas emissions from this widespread land use, we measured carbon stocks of eight mangrove forests and three shrimp ponds in the Acaraú and Jaguaribe watersheds in Ceará state, Brazil. The shrimp ponds were paired with adjacent intact mangroves to ascertain carbon losses and potential emissions from land conversion. The mean total ecosystem carbon stock of mangroves in this semiarid tropical landscape was 413 ± 94 Mg C/ha. There were highly significant differences in the ecosystem carbon stocks between the two sampled estuaries suggesting caution when extrapolating carbon stock across different estuaries even in the same landscape. Conversion of mangroves to shrimp ponds resulted in losses of 58%–82% of the ecosystem carbon stocks. The mean potential emissions arising from mangrove conversion to shrimp ponds was 1,390 Mg CO2e/ha. Carbon losses were largely from soils which accounted for 81% of the total emission. Losses from soils >100 cm in depth accounted for 33% of the total ecosystem carbon loss. Soil carbon losses from shrimp pond conversion are equivalent to about 182 years of soil carbon accumulation. Losses from mangrove conversion are about 10‐fold greater than emissions from conversion of upland tropical dry forest in the Brazilian Caatinga underscoring the potential value for their inclusion in climate change mitigation activities.

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“…While the effects of the climate‐driven mangrove mortality and those of other deforestation events may differ, consistent with our case, similar patterns in faunal communities have been observed in mangrove ecosystems that experienced deforestation. For example, while benthic faunal assemblages changed after clearing of mangroves, the total abundance and biomass did not respond to the mangrove removal effect (Bernardino et al ) or they even increased (Alfaro ). Similar to our case, in cleared areas of mangrove forest (due to typhoon), relative abundances of algae‐feeding crabs (i.e., fiddler crabs, Tubuca and Uca ) increased whereas leaf feeding crabs (Sesarmidae, typical forest species) were less abundant in the cleared gaps than in the forest (Diele et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotopes indicate ecosystem restructuring following climate‐driven mangrove dieback

Harada

Fry

Lee

et al. 2019

Limnology & Oceanography

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Extreme climatic events can trigger sudden but often long‐lasting impacts in ecosystems by causing near to complete mortality of foundation (habitat‐forming) species. The magnitude and frequency of such events are expected to rise due to anthropogenic climate change, but the impacts that such events have on many foundation species and the ecosystems that they support remains poorly understood. In many cases, manipulative experimentation is extremely challenging and rarely feasible at a large scale. In late 2015 to early 2016, an extensive area of mangrove forest along ∼ 1000 km of coastline in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, experienced severe dieback, an event associated with climatic extremes. To assess the effect this dieback event had on the mangrove ecosystem, we assessed benthic faunal assemblages and food web structure using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in a comparative experiment of impacted forest and adjacent unimpacted forest. Eighteen months after the dieback, the forest that suffered dieback contained significantly fewer crabs that rely on mangrove litter food source but more crabs that rely on microphytobenthos food source than the unimpacted forest. However, the infaunal biomass was largely unaffected by the mortality effect. This is most likely because microphytobenthos was largely unaffected and consequently, this buffered the food web responses. However, overall, the habitat value for mangrove ecosystem services most likely decreased due to lower physical habitat complexity following tree mortality. Longer‐term monitoring could lead to better understanding of biological effects of this extreme event and underlying biological mechanisms that drive changes and recovery.

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Mangrove clearing impacts on macrofaunal assemblages and benthic food webs in a tropical estuary

Cited by 53 publications

References 49 publications

Land use impacts on benthic bioturbation potential and carbon burial in Brazilian mangrove ecosystems

Land use impacts on benthic bioturbation potential and carbon burial in Brazilian mangrove ecosystems

Shrimp ponds lead to massive loss of soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in northeastern Brazilian mangroves

Stable isotopes indicate ecosystem restructuring following climate‐driven mangrove dieback

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