NAKSHA VISHWANATH KASAL

PhD Student

Research Title: From Seedlings to Ecosystems: A Functional Framework linking Above-belowground interactions to assess Mangrove Restoration Success
Research Group: Tropical Environmental Change (TEC)
Thesis Advisor: Assoc Prof Michiel van Breugel

Mangrove restoration has become a global conservation priority owing to its potential to enhance biodiversity, sequester blue carbon, and increase coastal resilience. However, restoration outcomes are predominantly assessed using structural metrics, including vegetation cover, species richness, and seedling survival, which inadequately capture the recovery of ecosystem functioning.

This research proposes a process-based framework integrating plant demography, plant functional traits, microbial community dynamics, and soil biogeochemical processes to quantify functional restoration trajectories in tropical urban mangroves. Specifically, the study will examine how abiotic gradients, rhizosphere microbial assemblages, and plant–soil feedbacks regulate seedling establishment, survival, and ecosystem development.

Longitudinal field surveys across restored and reference mangrove forests will be coupled with 16S rRNA and ITS metabarcoding, in situ measurements of soil CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes, and analyses of plant physiological and morphological traits. Hierarchical mixed-effects models, survival analyses, and multivariate community analyses will be employed to disentangle the relative contributions of abiotic and biotic drivers to restoration outcomes. By identifying mechanistic linkages between vegetation dynamics, microbial function, and greenhouse gas exchange, this project aims to develop robust functional indicators of ecosystem recovery.

The resulting framework will advance restoration ecology by shifting evaluation from structural attributes to ecosystem processes, while providing evidence-based guidance for adaptive mangrove restoration and long-term monitoring in Singapore and other tropical coastal landscapes.