Ayvazian Suzanne, Gerber-Williams Anna, Grabbert Sinead, Miller Kenneth, Hancock Boze, Helt William, Cobb Donald, Strobel Charles
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Modeling and Measurement, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, 27 Tarzwell Dr., Narragansett, RI 02882.
ORISE participant, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Environmental Modeling and Measurement, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, 27 Tarzwell Dr., Narragansett, RI 02882.
J Shellfish Res. 2020 Dec 28;39(3):563-587. doi: 10.2983/035.039.0306.
Oyster habitat restoration seeks to recover lost ecosystem services including increased provisioning of refuge and foraging habitat for fish and invertebrate communities. The goal of this study was to quantify the ecosystem service benefit of habitat provisioning in Ninigret Pond, RI following oyster restoration. We measured four metrics, abundance, biomass, species richness and diversity, as well as isotopic composition in fish and invertebrates collected seasonally from restored oyster, aquaculture, and bare sediment sites, to examine whether the oyster habitat outperformed the bare sediment habitat. Sampling locations were chosen in Foster's Cove north and south, Grassy Point, South Sanctuary, and an Aquaculture lease; each had two restored oyster sites and one bare sediment site. Each site was sampled using a box trap, seine net, shrimp trap, and minnow trap. Oyster habitats had significantly greater metrics than did bare sediment habitats in some comparisons from the box trap and seine net samples. Restored oyster sites at South Sanctuary had lower metric values than the other oyster sites. Metrics from the Aquaculture sites were comparable to the Foster's Cove and Grassy Point restored oyster sites and often outperformed South Sanctuary restored oyster sites. Seasonally, spring and autumn samples tended to have higher abundance and biomass values than summer. Isotopic composition of five species occurring at both restored oyster and bare sediment sites demonstrated some differences in the trophic levels between species but not between habitat types. In Ninigret Pond, fish and invertebrate abundance, biomass, species richness, and diversity benefit from the use of oyster and bare sediment habitats. Coastal zone managers interested in restoring the ecological function of oyster reefs to support fish and invertebrate communities should consider strategically locating restoration projects within the mosaic of structured habitats and monitoring them for selected ecosystem services.
牡蛎栖息地恢复旨在恢复丧失的生态系统服务功能，包括为鱼类和无脊椎动物群落提供更多的避难所和觅食栖息地。本研究的目的是量化罗德岛州尼尼格雷特池塘牡蛎恢复后栖息地提供的生态系统服务效益。我们测量了四个指标，即丰度、生物量、物种丰富度和多样性，以及从恢复的牡蛎、水产养殖和裸露沉积物地点季节性采集的鱼类和无脊椎动物的同位素组成，以检验牡蛎栖息地是否优于裸露沉积物栖息地。采样地点选在福斯特湾南北部、草地点、南保护区和一个水产养殖租约区；每个区域有两个恢复的牡蛎地点和一个裸露沉积物地点。每个地点使用箱式陷阱、围网、虾笼和米诺鱼笼进行采样。在箱式陷阱和围网样本的一些比较中，牡蛎栖息地的指标显著高于裸露沉积物栖息地。南保护区恢复的牡蛎地点的指标值低于其他牡蛎地点。水产养殖地点的指标与福斯特湾和草地点恢复的牡蛎地点相当，且往往优于南保护区恢复的牡蛎地点。季节性来看，春季和秋季样本的丰度和生物量值往往高于夏季。在恢复的牡蛎和裸露沉积物地点都出现的五个物种的同位素组成表明，物种之间的营养水平存在一些差异，但栖息地类型之间没有差异。在尼尼格雷特池塘，鱼类和无脊椎动物的丰度、生物量、物种丰富度和多样性受益于牡蛎和裸露沉积物栖息地的利用。对恢复牡蛎礁的生态功能以支持鱼类和无脊椎动物群落感兴趣的沿海地区管理人员，应考虑在结构化栖息地的镶嵌区域内战略性地定位恢复项目，并对选定的生态系统服务进行监测。
