Hamman Elizabeth A
Department of Biology St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's City Maryland USA.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Jul 9;15(7):e71683. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71683. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Oyster reefs form a critical, biogenic coastal habitat and host diverse assemblages of fish and invertebrates. Previous studies show that variation in the settlement and distribution of oyster reef inhabitants depends on factors such as flow and members of the benthic community. In other reef systems, such as coral reefs, the proximity of neighboring reefs also affects these patterns, yet this phenomenon is less explored in oyster systems. In this study, we tested the effects of habitat size and location on the colonization of sessile organisms living on restored oyster reef habitat. We placed cages filled with oyster shells of two sizes at two distances from the restored reef on the waterfront of St. Mary's College of Maryland. After 3 months, we collected the cages and identified and counted the individuals that colonized the shell. We found organisms responded differently to habitat size and location. For example, hooked mussel () abundance was primarily driven by proximity to the restored reef rather than the amount of available habitat. In contrast, spp. abundance was affected mainly by habitat size rather than location. Community composition depended only on habitat size. Therefore, habitat size and location can play an essential role in the community assembly of added oyster habitats through their taxon-specific effects.
牡蛎礁形成了一个关键的、生物源的沿海栖息地，并容纳了各种鱼类和无脊椎动物群落。先前的研究表明，牡蛎礁栖息生物的定居和分布变化取决于水流和底栖生物群落成员等因素。在其他礁体系统中，如珊瑚礁，相邻礁体的距离也会影响这些模式，但在牡蛎系统中对这一现象的探索较少。在本研究中，我们测试了栖息地大小和位置对生活在恢复的牡蛎礁栖息地的固着生物定殖的影响。我们在马里兰圣玛丽学院的滨水区，将装有两种大小牡蛎壳的笼子放置在距离恢复礁体两个不同的距离处。3个月后，我们收集笼子并识别和计数定殖在贝壳上的个体。我们发现生物对栖息地大小和位置的反应不同。例如，钩贻贝（）的丰度主要受与恢复礁体的距离驱动，而不是可用栖息地的数量。相比之下， 物种的丰度主要受栖息地大小而非位置的影响。群落组成仅取决于栖息地大小。因此，栖息地大小和位置通过其特定分类群的影响，在新增牡蛎栖息地的群落组装中可以发挥重要作用。
