In South Africa, mangrove forests and seagrass meadows often co‐occur in estuarine systems and in combination host rich, often endemic biodiversity. There is an urgent need to explore community diversity in coastal vegetated ecosystems, given the degrading effects of climate change and anthropogenic pressures. Environmental DNA metabarcoding is a promising biomonitoring tool in South African coastal ecosystems, although studie...

Mangroves are expanding polewards due to global change, often encroaching into adjacent temperate saltmarshes. In both vegetated ecosystems, brachyurans are responsible for ecological processes and functions such as nutrient cycling and sediment bioturbation. South African mangroves occur at a latitudinal limit and are establishing further south due to past planting events and global change, making these ideal study systems fo...

Species detection using environmental DNA (eDNA) is a biomonitoring tool that can be widely applied to mangrove restoration and management. Compared to traditional surveys that are taxa-specific and time-consuming, eDNA metabarcoding offers a rapid, non-invasive and cost-efficient method for monitoring mangrove biodiversity and characterising the spatio-temporal distribution of multiple taxa simultaneously. General guidelines...

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in South Africa have a long history with currently 5% of the mainland’s ocean territory protected. The MPAs are celebrated and appreciated for their representative coverage of several habitat types and their ecological benefits. However, the story of correlational coastal community exclusion is not one that is often told in the ‘success’ story of South African MPAs. In this review we describe the...