Potential Impacts of Restored Oyster Reefs Environmental Science Essay
Habitat context influences nitrogen removal by restored oyster reefs. Journal of Applied, 3 DOI: 10.1111 1365-2664.12435. Authors: Ashley R. Smyth. University of Florida. The positive relationship between oyster production and restored reef age supports previous literature, as restored oyster reefs placed in ideal physical conditions can grow rapidly. Dillon et al. 2015 Rezek et al. 2017 Walles et al. 2016, Achieving oyster density and biomass of natural reefs within, from restoration Smith, Lusk, amp, Overall, and with little change over time, is fish and invertebrate biomass are greater in restored oyster reefs than in mud bottoms. m-2. The additional biomass of commercial species is equal to an increase in local fishery value or 0 · 2. 1. IntroductionLarge complex reefs created by eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica were once a prominent feature of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. By the century, overfishing had decimated the Bay oyster population Kennedy and Breisch, 1981, Jackson et al. 2001. By mid-century, two diseases, MSX and the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, a leading ecosystem engineer, whose reefs are striking exhibit consistent morphologies at multiple spatial scales throughout its North American range. These different morphologies are thought to be formed by interactions of emergent reef structures with hydrodynamics. We ran two fields: Nutrient removal rates are among the highest ever recorded. A study led by researcher Lisa Kellogg of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science found that a restored oyster reef could remove times more nitrogen from Chesapeake Bay waters than an unrestored area nearby. This provides additional evidence that reef recovery is possible. the value of oyster reef services, excluding oyster harvesting, is between 99 hectares per year and that reefs recoup their average restoration costs. In contrast, when oyster reefs are subjected to destructive oyster harvesting, they do not recover the costs of restoration. Reef restoration can have positive impacts on shallow seagrass beds in turbid, high-energy systems, but more work is needed on the magnitude and mechanisms of this interaction. Seagrass. Native oyster reefs once dominated many estuaries, ecologically and economically. Centuries of resource extraction, exacerbated by coastal degradation, have brought oyster reefs worldwide to the brink of functional extinction. We examined the status of bay oyster reef ecoregions and made our comparisons to the past. Oyster reefs provide valuable ecosystem services that contribute to coastal resilience. Unfortunately, many reefs have been degraded or completely removed, and oyster recovery efforts are increasing in many coastal areas. In particular, a lot of attention has been paid recently to restoration. Furthermore, oyster reefs and oyster aquaculture appear to have a similar biogeochemical function, indicating the potential for sustainable animal protein production in addition to environmental restoration. The positive relationship between oyster production and restored reef age supports previous literature, as restored oyster reefs placed in ideal physical conditions can grow rapidly Dillon et al. 2015 Rezek et al. 2017 Walles et al. 2016, achieving oyster density and biomass of natural reefs inside, from restoration Smith, Lusk, amp,