Stronger functional coupling rather than enhanced ecosystem multifunctionality in mangrove mixed-species plantations versus monocultures.

Human sustainable development relies on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF), which reflects an ecosystem's capacity to sustain multiple functions simultaneously. The impact of species mixing on mangrove ecosystem multifunctionality remains understudied, lacking multidimensional indicator-based assessments. To address this critical knowledge gap, we assessed EMF of two mixed mangrove patterns (LR + SA, BG + SA) and a monospecific SA plantation, applying mean- and threshold-based EMF quantification using 50 soil, water, vegetation, air, and biodiversity indicators. Results showed mixed forests had 13.42% higher EMF than SA monocultures, though this difference was not statistically significant, with no distinction between the two cultivation patterns. Mixed forests exhibited stronger functional coupling, while monocultures showed isolated functions. Soil carbon storage emerged as the core driver of mangrove EMF, with pneumatophore biomass acting as the key regulatory factor. In summary, this study clarified the functional advantages and regulatory mechanisms of mixed mangrove forests, recommending LR + SA for carbon stocks and BG + SA for biodiversity conservation and improvement of soil quality, thereby providing a scientific basis for mangrove ecological restoration.

• Publication year

  2026

• Venue

  Journal of Environmental Management

• Publication date

  2026-02-28

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.128987PMID 41764926
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Long‐Term Active Rather than Passive Restoration Promotes Soil Organic Carbon Accumulation by Alleviating Microbial Nitrogen Limitation in an Extremely Degraded Alpine Grassland

  2025cited by this paper
• Fertilization managements mitigate microbial carbon and nitrogen limitations while preserving soil organic carbon in croplands compared to grasslands: A meta-analysis.

  2025cited by this paper
• Succession-driven dynamics of ecosystem function and multifunctionality at regional scales: Evidence from subtropical secondary forests

  2025cited by this paper
• Trends in water quality parameters and trophic level of Lake Xingkai/Khanka

  2025cited by this paper
• Diverse restored mangrove stands enhance carbon storage compared to monospecific plantation: A meta-analysis

  2025cited by this paper
• Mixed plantations do not necessarily provide higher ecosystem multifunctionality than monoculture plantations.

  2024cited by this paper
• Characterization of an In-Situ Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) via a Smart-Electrochemical Sensing Approach

  2024cited by this paper
• Empirical analysis of the influence mechanism of vegetation and environment on negative air ion in warm temperate forest ecosystems.

  2024cited by this paper
• Mangrove ecology guiding the use of mangroves as nature‐based solutions

  2024cited by this paper
• Four decades of data indicate that planted mangroves stored up to 75% of the carbon stocks found in intact mature stands

  2024cited by this paper
• Plant community diversity alters the response of ecosystem multifunctionality to multiple global change factors

  2024cited by this paper
• Importance of mangrove plantations for climate change mitigation in Bangladesh

  2023cited by this paper
• Habitat complexity drives food web structure along a dynamic mangrove coast.

  2023cited by this paper
• Legacy effect of single biochar application on soil ecosystem multifunctionality and its contribution to rice yield: A five-year field experiment for acidic paddy

  2023cited by this paper
• Stand characteristics and ecological benefits of Chinese Fir, Chinese Cedar, and mixed plantations in the mountainous areas of the Sichuan Basin

  2023cited by this paper
• Assessing the importance of species and their assemblages for the biodiversity-ecosystem multifunctionality relationship.

  2023cited by this paper
• Plant functional trait diversity and structural diversity co-underpin ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical forests

  2023cited by this paper
• Biodiversity maintains soil multifunctionality and soil organic carbon in novel urban ecosystems

  2022cited by this paper
• Using satellite data to assess spatial drivers of bird diversity

  2022cited by this paper
• When nature needs a helping hand: Different levels of human intervention for mangrove (re-)establishment

  2022cited by this paper
• Soil microbial network complexity predicts ecosystem function along elevation gradients on the Tibetan Plateau

  2022cited by this paper
• Mangrove forests under climate change in a 2°C world

  2022cited by this paper
• Priority areas for mixed-species mangrove restoration: the suitable species in the right sites

  2022cited by this paper
• Functional diversity dominates positive species mixture effects on ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical plantations

  2022cited by this paper
• To Plant or Not to Plant: When can Planting Facilitate Mangrove Restoration?

  2022cited by this paper
• The effects of afforestation tree species mixing on soil organic carbon stock, nutrients accumulation, and understory vegetation diversity on reclaimed coastal lands in Eastern China

  2021cited by this paper
• Microbial diversity regulates ecosystem multifunctionality during natural secondary succession

  2021cited by this paper
• For the sake of resilience and multifunctionality, let's diversify planted forests!

  2021cited by this paper
• Organic and conservation agriculture promote ecosystem multifunctionality

  2021cited by this paper
• A meta-analysis of the ecological and economic outcomes of mangrove restoration

  2021cited by this paper
• Mangrove diversity enhances plant biomass production and carbon storage in Hainan island, China

  2021cited by this paper
• Niche separation and weak interactions in the high tidal zone of saltmarsh‐mangrove mixing communities

  2021cited by this paper
• A closer look at the functions behind ecosystem multifunctionality: A review

  2020cited by this paper
• Zonation of mangrove flora and fauna in a subtropical estuarine wetland based on surface elevation

  2020cited by this paper
• Ecosystem services and disservices of mangrove forests and salt marshes

  2020cited by this paper
• Colonization by native species enhances the carbon storage capacity of exotic mangrove monocultures

  2020cited by this paper
• A Comparison of Soil Carbon Stocks of Intact and Restored Mangrove Forests in Northern Vietnam

  2020cited by this paper
• Future carbon emissions from global mangrove forest loss

  2020cited by this paper
• Global declines in human‐driven mangrove loss

  2020cited by this paper
• Earthworms Coordinate Soil Biota to Improve Multiple Ecosystem Functions.

  2019cited by this paper
• Dimensions of Blue Carbon and emerging perspectives

  2019cited by this paper
• Multifunctionality assessments – More than assessing multiple ecosystem functions and services? A quantitative literature review

  2019cited by this paper
• Soil multifunctionality is affected by the soil environment and by microbial community composition and diversity

  2019cited by this paper
• The State of the World's Mangrove Forests: Past, Present, and Future

  2019cited by this paper
• Negative Air Ions and Their Effects on Human Health and Air Quality Improvement

  2018cited by this paper
• Identifying the tree species compositions that maximize ecosystem functioning in European forests

  2018cited by this paper
• Redefining ecosystem multifunctionality

  2018cited by this paper
• Mangrove blue carbon strategies for climate change mitigation are most effective at the national scale

  2018cited by this paper
• Forest biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services

  2017cited by this paper
• From monocultures to mixed-species forests: is tree diversity key for providing ecosystem services at the landscape scale?

  2017cited by this paper
• Tree Diversity Drives Forest Stand Resistance to Natural Disturbances

  2017cited by this paper
• Local loss and spatial homogenization of plant diversity reduce ecosystem multifunctionality

  2017cited by this paper
• Mangrove Sedimentation and Response to Relative Sea-Level Rise.

  2016cited by this paper
• Jack-of-all-trades effects drive biodiversity–ecosystem multifunctionality relationships in European forests

  2016cited by this paper
• Replacing monocultures with mixed-species stands: Ecosystem service implications of two production forest alternatives in Sweden

  2016cited by this paper
• Low multifunctional redundancy of soil fungal diversity at multiple scales.

  2016cited by this paper
• Microbial diversity drives multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems

  2016cited by this paper
• Comprehensive national database of tree effects on air quality and human health in the United States.

  2016cited by this paper
• The contentious nature of soil organic matter

  2015cited by this paper
• Functional diversity enhances the resistance of ecosystem multifunctionality to aridity in Mediterranean drylands.

  2015cited by this paper
• Biodiversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality across trophic levels and habitats

  2015cited by this paper
• The global spectrum of plant form and function

  2015cited by this paper
• Managing planted forests for multiple uses under a changing environment in China

  2014cited by this paper
• Discontinuity in the responses of ecosystem processes and multifunctionality to altered soil community composition

  2014cited by this paper
• Investigating the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality: challenges and solutions

  2013cited by this paper
• Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species

  2013cited by this paper
• Plant Species Richness and Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Global Drylands

  2012cited by this paper
• Global patterns of the dynamics of soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following afforestation: a meta-analysis.

  2012cited by this paper
• Effects of species richness, identity and environmental variables on growth in planted mangroves in Kenya

  2012cited by this paper
• Comparing carbon sequestration and stand structure of monoculture and mixed mangrove plantations of Sonneratia caseolaris and S apetala in Southern China

  2012cited by this paper
• Mangroves among the most carbon-rich forests in the tropics

  2011cited by this paper
• Evaluation of pollution load of Lahore Canal by quantification of various pollutants through physicochemical characterisation

  2010cited by this paper
• Sustaining multiple ecosystem functions in grassland communities requires higher biodiversity

  2010cited by this paper
• Biodiversity Losses and Ecosystem Function in Freshwaters: Emerging Conclusions and Research Directions

  2010cited by this paper
• Non‐linearity in ecosystem services: temporal and spatial variability in coastal protection

  2009cited by this paper
• Recent progresses in mangrove conservation, restoration and research in China

  2009cited by this paper
• Functionality of restored mangroves: A review

  2008cited by this paper
• Biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality

  2007cited by this paper
• Plant Species Diversity and Management of Temperate Forage and Grazing Land Ecosystems

  2004cited by this paper
• Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security

  2004cited by this paper
• Soil carbon stocks and bulk density: spatial or cumulative mass coordinates as a basis of expression?

  2003cited by this paper
• Effects of plant composition and diversity on nutrient cycling

  1998cited by this paper
• Mangrove biodiversity and ecosystem function

  1998cited by this paper
• Benefits of plant diversity to ecosystems: immediate, filter and founder effects

  1998cited by this paper
• The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital

  1997cited by this paper
• Facultative Mutualism Between Red Mangroves and Root‐Fouling Sponges in Belizean Mangal

  1996cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.