Schulte David M, Burke Russell P, Lipcius Romuald N
Department of Fisheries Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA.
Science. 2009 Aug 28;325(5944):1124-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1176516. Epub 2009 Jul 30.
Native oyster species were once vital ecosystem engineers, but their populations have collapsed worldwide because of overfishing and habitat destruction. In 2004, we initiated a vast (35-hectare) field experiment by constructing native oyster reefs of three types (high-relief, low-relief, and unrestored) in nine protected sanctuaries throughout the Great Wicomico River in Virginia, United States. Upon sampling in 2007 and 2009, we found a thriving metapopulation comprising 185 million oysters of various age classes. Oyster density was fourfold greater on high-relief than on low-relief reefs, explaining the failure of past attempts. Juvenile recruitment and reef accretion correlated with oyster density, facilitating reef development and population persistence. This reestablished metapopulation is the largest of any native oyster worldwide and validates ecological restoration of native oyster species.
本地牡蛎物种曾经是至关重要的生态系统工程师，但由于过度捕捞和栖息地破坏，它们在全球范围内的数量已经崩溃。2004年，我们在美国弗吉尼亚州大威科米科河沿岸的九个保护区内，通过建造三种类型（高起伏、低起伏和未修复）的本地牡蛎礁，启动了一项大规模（35公顷）的田间试验。在2007年和2009年采样时，我们发现了一个繁荣的集合种群，其中包括1.85亿只不同年龄级别的牡蛎。高起伏礁上的牡蛎密度比低起伏礁上大四倍，这解释了过去尝试失败的原因。幼体补充和礁体堆积与牡蛎密度相关，促进了礁体发育和种群持续存在。这个重新建立的集合种群是全球所有本地牡蛎中最大的，验证了本地牡蛎物种的生态恢复。
