title: Can mangrove plantation enhance the functional diversity of macrobenthic community in polluted mangroves?
abstract: Mangrove plantation is widely applied to re-establish the plant community in degraded mangroves, but its effectiveness to restore the ecological functions of macrobenthic community remains poorly known, especially when pollution may overwhelm its potential positive effect. Here, we tested the effect of mangrove plantation on the ecological functions of macrobenthic community in a polluted mangrove by analyzing biological traits of macrobenthos and calculating functional diversity. Mangrove plantation was shown to enhance the functional diversity and restore the ecological functions of macrobenthic community, depending on seasonality. Given the polluted sediment, however, typical traits of opportunistic species (e.g. small and short-lived) prevailed in all habitats and sampling times. We conclude that mangrove plantation can help diversify the ecological functions of macrobenthic community, but its effectiveness is likely reduced by pollution. From the management perspective, therefore, pollution sources must be stringently regulated and mangrove plantation should be conducted to fully recover degraded mangroves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: jonathan_0919@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Jonathan Y S
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Napo K M
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Cheung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D032407:Avicennia; D058448:Biota; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D043982:Rhizophoraceae; D012621:Seasons; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis
keywords: Biological trait; Functional diversity; Macrobenthic community; Mangrove plantation; Restoration