Global meta‐analysis highlights recovery of animal functional diversity in restored coastal ecosystems

Abstract Introduction Coastal ecosystems have experienced widespread global degradation, prompting substantial investment in restoration. While structural recovery is well documented, whether restoration reestablishes the functional diversity (FD) of animal communities and how recovery unfolds through time remains poorly resolved. Objectives This study evaluates the recovery of fish and decapod FD in restored coastal habitats—seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, saltmarshes, and oyster reefs—relative to reference and unstructured baselines and determines whether recovery occurs immediately or follows temporal trajectories. Methods We synthesized 61 studies encompassing 355 fish and 136 decapod species. We quantified functional richness (FRic; presence–absence based) and four abundance‐weighted FD metrics (functional evenness, divergence, dispersion, and Rao's Quadratic Entropy [Rao's Q ]) alongside species richness. Log response ratios (lnRR) comparing restored with reference and unstructured sites were analyzed in relation to time‐since‐restoration (TSR). Results lnRR did not differ significantly from zero in 93% of restored‐reference comparisons, suggesting restored habitats frequently supported functionally comparable communities from early stages. FRic showed similarity to reference systems irrespective of TSR. For fish in vegetated habitats, some abundance‐weighted metrics (particularly functional dispersion and Rao's Q ) showed positive temporal trends, reaching parity within 3–7 years. Decapods showed greater variability, but all metrics indicated early functional equivalence, consistent with rapid colonization. The absence of strong temporal trends in most comparisons suggests early functional recovery followed by stable trajectories. Conclusion FD of fish and decapod assemblages responds relatively rapidly to coastal habitat restoration, with many systems achieving early equivalence to reference conditions. Recovery varied by ecosystem: oyster reefs showed consistent early parity, while vegetated systems exhibited more gradual trajectories, underscoring ecosystem‐specific expectations.