![]() ![]() Sea level rise represents the main concern considering their tidal nature, but also changes in temperature, salinity, and increases in greenhouse gas concentrations need to be considered 3, 10. This is particularly evident in tropical ecosystems, such as mangroves, which host an important fraction of coastal biodiversity and are among those that will experience the earliest emergence of the impacts of global changes 23. The relationships between biodiversity and functioning of marine ecosystems are most often positive 18, so that biodiversity loss could result in a reduction of the ecosystem functioning and, consequently, of the ecosystems’ capacity to provide goods and services to humans 19, 20, 21, 22. Theoretical ecology predicts that biodiversity can influence ecosystems’ functioning, although outputs of correlative investigations and manipulative experiments have provided contrasting results 17. Habitat loss is typically associated with a loss in terms of biodiversity 12. Climate changes (sea level rise and altered rainfalls) and human activities (urban development, aquaculture, mining, and overexploitation of timber, fish, crustaceans and shellfish) represent major threats for mangrove habitats 13, 14, 15, 16. They offer protection from catastrophic events, such as tsunami, tropical cyclones and tidal bores and can dampen shoreline erosion 6, 10.ĭespite their importance, mangroves are disappearing at a global loss rate of 1–2% per year 11, and the loss rate reached 35% during the last 20 years 4, 12. Mangroves play also a key role in human sustainability and livelihoods, being heavily used for food, timber, fuel and medicine 8, 9. They accumulate carbon in tree biomass, and most of this carbon is lost by decomposition and export to adjacent ecosystems 7. Mangrove forests are highly productive ecosystems with rates of primary production equal to those of tropical humid evergreen forests 6. These forests, at the land-sea interface, provide food, breeding grounds and nursery sites for a variety of terrestrial and marine organisms, including many commercial species and juvenile reef fish 4, 5. Mangrove ecosystems are of great ecological and economic importance 1. The results of this study strengthen the need to preserve mangrove forests and to restore those degraded to guarantee the provision of goods and services needed to support the biodiversity and functioning of wide portions of tropical ecosystems. We report here that disturbed mangrove area showed a loss of 20% of benthic biodiversity, with the local extinction of four Phyla (Cladocera, Kynorincha, Priapulida, Tanaidacea), a loss of 80% of microbial-mediated decomposition rates, of the benthic biomass and of the trophic resources. Here, in order to assess the effects of mangrove habitat degradation on benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, we investigated meiofaunal biodiversity (as proxy of benthic biodiversity), benthic biomass and prokaryotic heterotrophic production (as proxies of ecosystem functioning) and trophic state in a disturbed and an undisturbed mangrove forests. Mangrove habitats are regressing at an alarming rate, due to direct anthropogenic impacts and global change. Mangroves are amongst the most productive marine ecosystems on Earth, providing a unique habitat opportunity for many species and key goods and services for human beings. ![]()
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