Ecosystem engineers that modify landforms can be valuable tools for restoring habitat, but their use has frequently resulted in unanticipated outcomes. Departures from expectations might arise because applications discount the possibility that geomorphic processes are influenced by heritable phenotypic variation. We conducted a field‐scale common garden experiment to assess whether shoreline erosion reflects intraspecific variation in the landform engineer Spartina alterniflora. Replicated plots on a shoreline denuded by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill were revegetated using plants from four genetically distinct sources: the local population, a nonlocal population, and two nursery stocks. We assessed variation in biomass, tissue nutrients, and functional traits alongside soil shear strength, surface elevation, and shoreline erosion rates over 2 years. We found that productivity, traits, nutrient content, and erosion rates varied according to plant provenance. Erosion reflected traits like root architecture more so than coarser metrics of growth. Erosion was significantly higher in plots with nonlocal plants that exhibited lower productivity, likely due to nitrogen limitation. Our results indicate that restoration practices should account for intraspecific variation in landform engineers and that in situ trials should be performed at sites slated for restoration to evaluate donor source suitability, particularly if introductions might modify local populations.

中文翻译：

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恢复后的盐沼海岸线地形工程的种内变化


改变地貌的生态系统工程师可以成为恢复栖息地的宝贵工具，但它们的使用经常会导致意想不到的结果。与预期的偏离可能会出现，因为应用程序低估了地貌过程受遗传表型变异影响的可能性。我们进行了一项田野规模的普通花园实验，以评估海岸线侵蚀是否反映了地貌工程师互花米草的种内变化。在深水地平线漏油事件造成的海岸线上的复制地块上，使用来自四个基因不同来源的植物进行了重新植被：当地人口、非当地人口和两种苗木。我们评估了两年来生物量、组织养分和功能性状以及土壤剪切强度、地表海拔和海岸线侵蚀率的变化。我们发现生产力、性状、养分含量和侵蚀率根据植物来源的不同而变化。侵蚀更多地反映了根结构等特征，而不是更粗略的生长指标。在生产力较低的非本地植物地块中，侵蚀明显较高，这可能是由于氮的限制。我们的结果表明，恢复实践应考虑地形工程师的种内差异，并且应在预定恢复的地点进行原位试验，以评估供体来源的适宜性，特别是如果引入可能会改变当地种群。