Oyster Reef Restoration in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Effect of Substrate and Age on Ecosystem Services.

摘要

Oyster reefs provide estuaries with ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, shoreline stabilization, refugia for invertebrate biodiversity, and fisheries enhancement, but have been disappearing over the past century due to increasing overharvesting, disease, and eutrophication. The northern Gulf of Mexico has over 400 artificial oyster reefs constructed of various materials created through efforts to restore ecosystem services lost with declining oyster populations. The purpose of this study was to determine how two common artificial reef construction materials (rock vs. oyster shell) at various ages affect ecosystem services, specifically blue crab abundance, the commensal community, and oyster recruitment, as well as to determine the refuge value of oyster reefs.