Intra- and interspecific facilitation in mangroves may increase resilience to climate change threats.

Mangroves are intertidal ecosystems that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. At the low tidal limits of their range, they face swamping by rising sea levels; at the high tidal limits, they face increasing stress from desiccation and high salinity. Facilitation theory may help guide mangrove management and restoration in the face of these threats by suggesting how and when positive intra- and interspecific effects may occur: such effects are predicted in stressed environments such as the intertidal, but have yet to be shown among mangroves. Here, we report the results of a series of experiments at low and high tidal sites examining the effects of mangrove density and species mix on seedling survival and recruitment, and on the ability of mangroves to trap sediment and cause surface elevation change. Increasing density significantly increased the survival of seedlings of two different species at both high and low tidal sites, and enhanced sediment accretion and elevation at the low tidal site. Including Avicennia marina in species mixes enhanced total biomass at a degraded high tidal site. Increasing biomass led to changed microenvironments that allowed the recruitment and survival of different mangrove species, particularly Ceriops tagal.

Regulation of catalase: inhibition by peroxynitrite and reactivation by reduced glutathione and glutathione S-transferase.

The regulation of stable catalase from Aspergillus niger was investigated. The preincubation of catalase with peroxynitrite (PN) resulted in a significant decrease in the production of O2, while the subsequent incubation with reduced glutathione (GSH, 1mM) led to restoration of the enzymatic activity. Western blot analysis revealed not only the increased immunoreactivities of 3-nitrotyrosine and S-nitrosocysteine in a PN-dose-dependent manner, but also conversely decreased immunoreactivity of 3-nitrotyrosine by the subsequent preincubation of catalase with GSH (1mM)/glutathione S-transferase (GST). The inhibition of the catalase after PN-treatment may be due to conformational changes of the enzyme via tyrosine-nitration/cysteine-nitrosation and the binding of active nitrogen/oxygen species to the Fe3+-protoporphyrin groups of the enzyme. The reverse of these processes to restore enzymatic activity by GSH/GST may be a vital antioxidative mechanism.