What are the impacts of Spartina alterniflora invasion on intertidal macrobenthic communities? A global meta-analysis

There is currently no consistent conclusion about the impacts of global Spartina alterniflora invasion on intertidal macrobenthic communities, and the impact mechanisms are also not clear enough due to the limitations in study sites and duration. Here, after collecting and extracting 2110 data from 96 studies around the world, we utilized hierarchical meta-analysis to quantify the impacts of Spartina alterniflora invasion on intertidal macrobenthic communities, and systematically analyzed and summarized the factors influencing invasion results for the first time. The results showed that the invasion of Spartina alterniflora generally has a negative impact on macrobenthic communities, but has a positive impact on species number and richness index of microbenthic communities. The pattern of influence strongly depends on the native habitat, invasion duration, average annual temperature, sediment type and tide level, which indicates that Spartina alterniflora affects macrobenthic communities by altering the external environment of the invaded area, and the habitat heterogeneity in different intertidal zones also leads to diverse impacts of Spartina alterniflora invasion on macrobenthic communities. Our study provides important insights for a comprehensive understanding of biological invasions and offers new perspectives for future ecological restoration in intertidal zones.