Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Conserv Biol. 2023 Feb;37(1):e13966. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13966. Epub 2022 Sep 8.
Restoration of foundation species promises to reverse environmental degradation and return lost ecosystem services, but a lack of standardized evaluation across projects limits understanding of recovery, especially in marine systems. Oyster reefs are restored to reverse massive global declines and reclaim valuable ecosystem services, but the success of these projects has not been systematically and comprehensively quantified. We synthesized data on ecosystem services associated with oyster restoration from 245 pairs of restored and degraded reefs and 136 pairs of restored and reference reefs across 3500 km of U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coastlines. On average, restoration was associated with a 21-fold increase in oyster production (mean log response ratio = 3.08 [95% confidence interval: 2.58-3.58]), 34-97% enhancement of habitat provisioning (mean community abundance = 0.51 [0.41-0.61], mean richness = 0.29 [0.19-0.39], and mean biomass = 0.69 [0.39-0.99]), 54% more nitrogen removal (mean = 0.43 [0.13-0.73]), and 89-95% greater sediment nutrients (mean = 0.67 [0.27-1.07]) and organic matter (mean = 0.64 [0.44-0.84]) relative to degraded habitats. Moreover, restored reefs matched reference reefs for these ecosystem services. Our results support the continued and expanded use of oyster restoration to enhance ecosystem services of degraded coastal systems and match many functions provided by reference reefs.
修复基础物种有望逆转环境恶化并恢复失去的生态系统服务，但由于项目之间缺乏标准化评估，对恢复的理解受到限制，尤其是在海洋系统中。牡蛎礁的恢复旨在扭转全球范围内的大规模衰退，并重新获得有价值的生态系统服务，但这些项目的成功尚未得到系统和全面的量化。我们综合了来自美国墨西哥湾和大西洋沿岸 3500 公里范围内 245 对修复和退化礁以及 136 对修复和参考礁的与牡蛎修复相关的生态系统服务数据。平均而言，修复与牡蛎产量增加 21 倍相关（平均对数响应比为 3.08[95%置信区间：2.58-3.58]），栖息地供应的增强 34-97%（平均群落丰度为 0.51[0.41-0.61]，平均丰富度为 0.29[0.19-0.39]，平均生物量为 0.69[0.39-0.99]），氮去除增加 54%（平均为 0.43[0.13-0.73]），沉积物养分（平均为 0.67[0.27-1.07]）和有机物质（平均为 0.64[0.44-0.84]）增加 89-95%，与退化生境相比。此外，修复后的礁与参考礁在这些生态系统服务方面相匹配。我们的结果支持继续扩大牡蛎修复的使用，以增强退化沿海系统的生态系统服务，并与参考礁提供的许多功能相匹配。
