Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities
Abstract Historic declines in oyster populations have resulted in diminished production of ecosystem services and habitat function in many estuaries. Due to the important role of oysters in ecosystem function, scientists and resource managers have employed oyster reef restoration to mitigate decline...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11688-6 |
| _version_ | 1811338878085234688 |
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| author | Adam R. Searles Emily E. Gipson Linda J. Walters Geoffrey S. Cook |
| author_facet | Adam R. Searles Emily E. Gipson Linda J. Walters Geoffrey S. Cook |
| author_sort | Adam R. Searles |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Historic declines in oyster populations have resulted in diminished production of ecosystem services and habitat function in many estuaries. Due to the important role of oysters in ecosystem function, scientists and resource managers have employed oyster reef restoration to mitigate declines, recover essential ecosystem services, and better habitat function. Yet, there are knowledge gaps regarding the impact of restoration efforts on ecologically valuable mid-trophic level organisms inhabiting these systems. To address this knowledge gap, here we quantify macroinvertebrate species abundance, community diversity, and composition on experimental restored oyster reefs before and after restoration, and from live (positive control) and dead (negative control) reefs in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida. Species diversity and composition on restored reefs shifted towards states similar to live (positive control) reefs within 12 months of restoration. Recovery of species abundance occurred within 18 months of restoration. The results presented herein quantify the effect of restoration on resident macroinvertebrates and provide timelines of recovery for each attribute of these communities. Further, this study presents an actionable and transferable framework for identifying effective single-species metrics of restoration success across ecosystems. The application of this framework will provide managers and researchers with tools to improve the efficiency and efficacy of post-restoration monitoring. By doing so, this study contributes significantly to the improvement of broader restoration practices in an era of unprecedented habitat loss. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:18:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-83f4c17bb57b4ae0ba4e7944e25bb17c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:18:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-83f4c17bb57b4ae0ba4e7944e25bb17c2022-12-22T02:35:37ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-05-0112111510.1038/s41598-022-11688-6Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communitiesAdam R. Searles0Emily E. Gipson1Linda J. Walters2Geoffrey S. Cook3Department of Biology, University of Central FloridaDepartment of Biology, University of Central FloridaDepartment of Biology, University of Central FloridaDepartment of Biology, University of Central FloridaAbstract Historic declines in oyster populations have resulted in diminished production of ecosystem services and habitat function in many estuaries. Due to the important role of oysters in ecosystem function, scientists and resource managers have employed oyster reef restoration to mitigate declines, recover essential ecosystem services, and better habitat function. Yet, there are knowledge gaps regarding the impact of restoration efforts on ecologically valuable mid-trophic level organisms inhabiting these systems. To address this knowledge gap, here we quantify macroinvertebrate species abundance, community diversity, and composition on experimental restored oyster reefs before and after restoration, and from live (positive control) and dead (negative control) reefs in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida. Species diversity and composition on restored reefs shifted towards states similar to live (positive control) reefs within 12 months of restoration. Recovery of species abundance occurred within 18 months of restoration. The results presented herein quantify the effect of restoration on resident macroinvertebrates and provide timelines of recovery for each attribute of these communities. Further, this study presents an actionable and transferable framework for identifying effective single-species metrics of restoration success across ecosystems. The application of this framework will provide managers and researchers with tools to improve the efficiency and efficacy of post-restoration monitoring. By doing so, this study contributes significantly to the improvement of broader restoration practices in an era of unprecedented habitat loss.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11688-6 |
| spellingShingle | Adam R. Searles Emily E. Gipson Linda J. Walters Geoffrey S. Cook Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities Scientific Reports |
| title | Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities |
| title_full | Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities |
| title_fullStr | Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities |
| title_short | Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities |
| title_sort | oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance diversity and composition in estuarine communities |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11688-6 |
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