Understanding ecosystem pressures, condition and marine macroinvertebrate ecosystem services in seagrasses and mangroves in a digital age: Case of Inhambane Bay, Mozambique

Marine macroinvertebrates (MMI) sustain high biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and multiple ecosystem services (ES), but they can be impacted by the pressures exerted on ecosystems and their condition. We assessed ecosystem pressures (habitat conversion, overexploitation and climate change) and condition (environmental quality and ecosystem attributes), and MMI ES (provisioning, regulation and maintenance, and cultural) in seagrasses and mangroves of the Inhambane bay (INB), Mozambique, using digital data from satellite, biodiversity platforms, natural history collections databases, scientific literature and fisheries national reports. The study revealed that both, seagrass and mangrove extents of the INB have increased significantly since 2016. The surface partial pressure CO2 and sea surface height above sea level (i.e., sea level anomalies), and surface pH have significantly increased and decreased respectively. While sea surface temperature showed no significant annual variation, there was an increasing trend. Out of the seven environmental quality variables which showed a decline in concentrations (except PO4 increasing), only silicate, PO4 and phytoplankton concentrations in the bay showed significant annual varying trends. The biological condition of the bay shows that seagrasses present higher species richness and occurrences than mangroves. The MMI ES included the temporal assessment of food (provisioning); water quality regulation, hydrological flux, climate regulation, MMI as decomposition precursors, and habitat modification (regulation and maintenance); and recreation, stewardship and sense of belonging, scientific and traditional knowledge, and formal and informal education and training (cultural). MMI production has increased significantly, which parallels rising fishing efforts and indicates overexploitation that needs urgent attention. MMI regulation and maintenance, and cultural ES did not show significant trends overtime and they were probably underestimated due to data gaps. Notwithstanding, the study provided relevant data that can support future regulation and maintenance as well as cultural ES assessments and suggests a relation to the establishment of marine protected areas and MMI biodiversity. Conserving MMI and enhancing their ‘traditional’ use is key to their sustainable use. The results of this study contribute to the baseline information of the pressures and changes in condition of the INB which are potentially threatening to the MMI ES. It also revealed unexplored services of MMI in the INB, hence this study can be used to address issues on the unexplored MMI ES which can promote local economy.

海洋大型无脊椎动物（MMI）维系着丰富的生物多样性、生态系统功能及多项生态系统服务（ES），然而它们亦可能受到生态系统及其状况所承受的压力影响。本研究评估了 Inhambane 湾（INB）红树林和海草中的生态系统压力（生境转换、过度开发和气候变化）及其状况（环境质量与生态系统属性），以及 MMI 生态系统服务（提供、调节与维护，以及文化服务）。通过卫星、生物多样性平台、自然历史收藏数据库、科学文献和渔业国家报告的数字化数据进行分析。研究显示，自 2016 年以来，INB 的海草和红树林面积显著增加。二氧化碳分压、海面高度（即海平面异常）显著上升，而表面 pH 值则显著下降。尽管海面温度年度变化不显著，但呈现出上升趋势。在七个环境质量变量中，除 PO4 浓度上升外，其余均呈现浓度下降趋势，其中湾内硅酸盐、PO4 和浮游植物浓度表现出显著的年度变化趋势。湾区的生物状况表明，海草的物种丰富度和出现频率均高于红树林。MMI 生态系统服务包括食物（提供）的时间评估；水质调节、水文通量、气候调节、MMI 作为分解先驱、以及生境改造（调节与维护）；以及娱乐、管理、归属感、科学和传统知识、以及正式和非正式教育和培训（文化）。MMI 生产量显著增加，与日益增加的捕鱼努力程度相呼应，表明存在过度捕捞现象，亟需引起关注。MMI 调节与维护以及文化服务在时间上未显示出显著趋势，这可能是由于数据缺口而导致的低估。尽管如此，本研究提供了支持未来调节与维护以及文化服务评估的相关数据，并暗示了与建立海洋保护区及 MMI 生物多样性的关系。保护 MMI 并增强其“传统”使用是其可持续利用的关键。本研究结果为 INB 中威胁 MMI 生态系统服务的压力和状况变化提供了基础信息。同时，揭示了 INB 中 MMI 未被探索的服务，因此本研究可用于解决关于未被探索的 MMI 生态系统服务的问题，从而促进当地经济的发展。