Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales
Understanding how habitat attributes (e.g., patch area and sizes, connectivity) control recruitment and how this is modified by processes operating at larger spatial scales is fundamental to understanding population sustainability and developing successful long-term restoration strategies for marine...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179749 |
| _version_ | 1811676736457277440 |
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| author | Leong, Rick C. Bugnot, Ana B. Ross, Pauline M. Erickson, Katherine R. Gibbs, Mitchell C. Marzinelli, Ezequiel Miguel O'Connor, Wayne A. Parker, Laura M. Poore, Alistair G. B. Scanes, Elliot Gribben, Paul E. |
| author2 | Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences and Engineering |
| author_facet | Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences and Engineering Leong, Rick C. Bugnot, Ana B. Ross, Pauline M. Erickson, Katherine R. Gibbs, Mitchell C. Marzinelli, Ezequiel Miguel O'Connor, Wayne A. Parker, Laura M. Poore, Alistair G. B. Scanes, Elliot Gribben, Paul E. |
| author_sort | Leong, Rick C. |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Understanding how habitat attributes (e.g., patch area and sizes, connectivity) control recruitment and how this is modified by processes operating at larger spatial scales is fundamental to understanding population sustainability and developing successful long-term restoration strategies for marine foundation species-including for globally threatened reef-forming oysters. In two experiments, we assessed the recruitment and energy reserves of oyster recruits onto remnant reefs of the oyster Saccostrea glomerata in estuaries spanning 550 km of coastline in southeastern Australia. In the first experiment, we determined whether recruitment of oysters to settlement plates in three estuaries was correlated with reef attributes within patches (distances to patch edges and surface elevation), whole-patch attributes (shape and size of patches), and landscape attributes (connectivity). We also determined whether environmental factors (e.g., sedimentation and water temperature) explained the differences among recruitment plates. We also tested whether differences in energy reserves of recruits could explain the differences between two of the estuaries (one high- and one low-sedimentation estuary). In the second experiment, across six estuaries (three with nominally high and three with nominally low sedimentation rates), we tested the hypothesis that, at the estuary scale, recruitment and survival were negatively correlated to sedimentation. Overall, total oyster recruitment varied mostly at the scale of estuaries rather than with reef attributes and was negatively correlated with sedimentation. Percentage recruit survival was, however, similar among estuaries, although energy reserves and condition of recruits were lower at a high- compared to a low-sediment estuary. Within each estuary, total oyster recruitment increased with patch area and decreased with increasing tidal height. Our results showed that differences among estuaries have the largest influence on oyster recruitment and recruit health and this may be explained by environmental processes operating at the same scale. While survival was high across all estuaries, growth and reproduction of oysters on remnant reefs may be affected by sublethal effects on the health of recruits in high-sediment estuaries. Thus, restoration programs should consider lethal and sublethal effects of whole-estuary environmental processes when selecting sites and include environmental mitigation actions to maximize recruitment success. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:26:13Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/179749 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T02:26:13Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1797492024-08-22T15:30:22Z Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales Leong, Rick C. Bugnot, Ana B. Ross, Pauline M. Erickson, Katherine R. Gibbs, Mitchell C. Marzinelli, Ezequiel Miguel O'Connor, Wayne A. Parker, Laura M. Poore, Alistair G. B. Scanes, Elliot Gribben, Paul E. Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences and Engineering Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Foundation species Landscape connectivity Understanding how habitat attributes (e.g., patch area and sizes, connectivity) control recruitment and how this is modified by processes operating at larger spatial scales is fundamental to understanding population sustainability and developing successful long-term restoration strategies for marine foundation species-including for globally threatened reef-forming oysters. In two experiments, we assessed the recruitment and energy reserves of oyster recruits onto remnant reefs of the oyster Saccostrea glomerata in estuaries spanning 550 km of coastline in southeastern Australia. In the first experiment, we determined whether recruitment of oysters to settlement plates in three estuaries was correlated with reef attributes within patches (distances to patch edges and surface elevation), whole-patch attributes (shape and size of patches), and landscape attributes (connectivity). We also determined whether environmental factors (e.g., sedimentation and water temperature) explained the differences among recruitment plates. We also tested whether differences in energy reserves of recruits could explain the differences between two of the estuaries (one high- and one low-sedimentation estuary). In the second experiment, across six estuaries (three with nominally high and three with nominally low sedimentation rates), we tested the hypothesis that, at the estuary scale, recruitment and survival were negatively correlated to sedimentation. Overall, total oyster recruitment varied mostly at the scale of estuaries rather than with reef attributes and was negatively correlated with sedimentation. Percentage recruit survival was, however, similar among estuaries, although energy reserves and condition of recruits were lower at a high- compared to a low-sediment estuary. Within each estuary, total oyster recruitment increased with patch area and decreased with increasing tidal height. Our results showed that differences among estuaries have the largest influence on oyster recruitment and recruit health and this may be explained by environmental processes operating at the same scale. While survival was high across all estuaries, growth and reproduction of oysters on remnant reefs may be affected by sublethal effects on the health of recruits in high-sediment estuaries. Thus, restoration programs should consider lethal and sublethal effects of whole-estuary environmental processes when selecting sites and include environmental mitigation actions to maximize recruitment success. Published version Research was funded by Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LP180100732, in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy, NSW DPI, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science Foundation. Rick Leong was supported by a University of New South Wales (UNSW) University International Postgraduate Award (UIPA) and UNSW Science PhD Writing Scholarship during this research. Open access publishing facilitated by University of New South Wales, as part of the Wiley - University of New South Wales agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians. 2024-08-20T06:34:24Z 2024-08-20T06:34:24Z 2024 Journal Article Leong, R. C., Bugnot, A. B., Ross, P. M., Erickson, K. R., Gibbs, M. C., Marzinelli, E. M., O'Connor, W. A., Parker, L. M., Poore, A. G. B., Scanes, E. & Gribben, P. E. (2024). Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales. Ecological Applications, 34(4), e2968-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.2968 1051-0761 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179749 10.1002/eap.2968 38562000 2-s2.0-85189543461 4 34 e2968 en Ecological Applications © 2024 The Authors. Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Foundation species Landscape connectivity Leong, Rick C. Bugnot, Ana B. Ross, Pauline M. Erickson, Katherine R. Gibbs, Mitchell C. Marzinelli, Ezequiel Miguel O'Connor, Wayne A. Parker, Laura M. Poore, Alistair G. B. Scanes, Elliot Gribben, Paul E. Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales |
| title | Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales |
| title_full | Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales |
| title_fullStr | Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales |
| title_short | Recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales |
| title_sort | recruitment of a threatened foundation oyster species varies with large and small spatial scales |
| topic | Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Foundation species Landscape connectivity |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/179749 |
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