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Comment
. 2022 Mar 1;119(9):e2118042119.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2118042119.

Reply to Wilson et al.: Feedbacks between geomorphology and fauna engineers are key to predicting coastal response to rising seas

Sinead M Crotty  1 , Thomas Bianchi  2 , Andrew Altieri  3 , Christine Angelini  3
Affiliations
Comment

Reply to Wilson et al.: Feedbacks between geomorphology and fauna engineers are key to predicting coastal response to rising seas

Sinead M Crotty et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Historical and projected roles of faunal engineers. (A) Conceptual models of keystone species, originating in Power et al. (5), map the impact of community members as well as keystone, foundation, dominant, and rare species as a function of proportional biomass. Those species with disproportionate effects are termed keystone species (or foundation species if they are also numerically dominant) and fall above the 1:1 line. (B) Historical roles of marsh flora and fauna. (C) In the context of sea-level rise, however, the effects of S. reticulatum on marsh ecology and geomorphology are far greater, or disproportionate, to their population size, elevating them to keystone status.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Fauna engineering effects on ecogeomorphology of vegetated coastal ecosystems [adapted from Fagherazzi et al. with permission from John Wiley and Sons (4)]. Conceptual model depicting the mechanisms through which (A) grazers, (B) livestock, (C) biodepositers, and (D) bioturbators alter ecogeomorphology, with indirect (blue) and direct + indirect (green) effects highlighted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

    1. Wilson C. A., Hughes Z. J., FitzGerald D. M., Causal relationships among sea level rise, marsh crab activity, and salt marsh geomorphology. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 10.1073/pnas.2111535119 (2022). - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Crotty S. M., et al. , Sea-level rise and the emergence of a keystone grazer alter the geomorphic evolution and ecology of southeast US salt marshes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117, 17891–17902 (2020). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jones C. G., Lawton J. H., Shachak M., “Organisms as Ecosystem Engineers” in Ecosystem Management: Selected Readings, Samson F. B., Knopf F. L., Eds. (Springer, 1996), pp. 130–147.
    1. Fagherazzi S., et al. , Numerical models of salt marsh evolution: Ecological, geomorphic, and climatic factors. Rev. Geophys. 50, RG1002 (2012).
    1. Power M. E., et al. , Challenges in the quest for keystones: Identifying keystone species is difficult—but essential to understanding how loss of species will affect ecosystems. Bioscience 46, 609–620 (1996).

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