Rewilding could help vulnerable islands keep pace with rising seas

Seabirds, native plants, and healthy reefs can help atolls build as seas rise.

The short version

• Coral-fringed tropical atolls are among the landforms most threatened by global warming, but many have a potential superpower: Healthy ecosystems may help them keep pace with rising seas.
• Their paper, published Wednesday in Science Advances , shows that restoring atoll ecosystems reinforces their growth.
• Seabirds ferry nutrients from the open ocean and deposit them on the atolls as guano that nurtures land plants, marine life and coral growth.

What happened

This provides more material for reef building, as parrotfish and other reef feeders turn dead coral into sand to maintain beaches, while native plants with extensive root networks stabilize sediments. The findings provide more evidence that nature restoration can buffer the impacts of global warming .

Why it matters

For example, restoring wetlands and forests dampens swings between wet and dry spells, reducing flood and fire hazards.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.