Abstract
The ability of oysters to remove large quantities of particulates from the water column, thereby potentially improving water quality, has been cited as one of the reasons for oyster reef restoration. However, this ability has not yet been effectively demonstrated in the field. As part of the Alabama Oyster Reef Restoration Project, this study was designed to assess impacts of restored eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs on primary production, nutrient dynamics, and water quality in shallow tidal creeks. Using a Before–After-Control–Impact (BACI) design, we monitored tidal creeks around Dauphin Island, AL, for changes induced by the introduction of oyster reefs. Reef placement resulted in increased ammonium (NH +4 ) in two of the three experimental creeks. Interestingly, oyster reefs did not seem to reduce water column particulates or have an impact on phytoplankton or microphytobenthic biomass or productivity. We do not believe that our data discount the importance and/or usefulness of oysters in modifying the water column. Rather, we acknowledge that it is difficult to detect these impacts/environmental services in this type of system (i.e., a tidal creek system), because they seem to be very localized and short-lived (i.e., not ecologically relevant on a creek-wide scale). This study highlights the need to consider location and habitat in planning oyster restoration projects. Also, it demonstrates that the types, magnitudes, and spatial extent of changes in ecosystem services that should be expected after reef restoration might need to be re-evaluated.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews, J.D. 1988. Epizootiology of the disease caused by the oyster pathogen Perkinsus marinus and its effects on the oyster industry. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 18: 47–63.
Andrews, J.D. 1996. History of Perkinsus marinus, a pathogen of oysters in Chesapeake Bay 1950–1984. Journal of Shellfish Research 15: 13–16.
Brumbaugh, R.D., L.A. Sorabella, C.O. Garcia, W.J. Goldsborough, and J.A. Wesson. 2000. Making a case for community-based oyster restoration: An example from Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA. Journal of Shellfish Research 19: 397–400.
Cebrian, J., C.D. Foster, R. Plutchak, K. Sheehan, A. Anton, M. Miller, K. Major, K. Heck, and S.P. Powers. 2008. The impact of Hurricane Ivan on the primary productivity and metabolism of marsh tidal creeks in the North Central Gulf of Mexico. Aquatic Ecology 42: 391–404.
Cloern, J.E. 1982. Does the benthos control phytoplankton biomass in south San Francisco Bay? Marine Ecological Progress Series 9: 191–202.
Coen, L.D., and M.W. Luckenbach. 2000. Developing success criteria and goals for evaluating oyster reef restoration: Ecological function or resource exploitation? Ecological Engineering 15: 323–343.
Coen, L.D., R.D. Brumbaugh, D. Bushek, R. Grizzle, M.W. Luckenbach, M.H. Posey, S.P. Powers, and S.G. Tolley. 2007. Ecosystem services related to oyster restoration. Marine Ecology Progress Series 341: 303–307.
Cohen, R.R.H., and J.T. Carlton. 1998. Accelerating invasion rate in a highly invaded estuary. Science 279: 555–558.
Cohen, R.R.H., P.V. Dresler, E.J.P. Philips, and R.L. Cory. 1984. The effect of the Asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea, on phytoplankton of the Potomac River, Maryland. Limnology and Oceanography 29: 170–180.
Dame, R.F. 1993. The role of bivalve filter feeder material fluxes in estuarine ecosystems. In Bivalve filter feeders in estuarine and coastal ecosystem processes, ed. R.F. Dame, 245–269. Heidelberg: Springer.
Dame, R.F. 1999. Oyster reefs as components in estuarine nutrient cycling: incidental or controlling? In Oyster reef habitat restoration: A synopsis and synthesis of approaches, ed. M.W. Luckenbach, R. Mann, and J.A. Wesson, 267–280. Williamsburg, VA: Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
Dame, R.F., R.G. Zingmark, and E. Haskin. 1984. Oyster reefs as processors of estuarine material. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 83: 239–247.
Duarte, C.M. 1995. Submerged aquatic vegetation in relation to different nutrient regimes. Ophelia 41: 87–112.
Encomio, V., and F.L.E. Chu. 2000. The effect of PCBs on glycogen reserves in the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. Marine Environmental Research 50: 45–49.
Gerritsen, J., A.F. Holland, and D.E. Irvine. 1994. Suspension-feeding bivalves and the fate of primary production: An estuarine model applied to Chesapeake. Estuaries 17: 403–416.
Jackson, J., M.X. Kirby, W.H. Berger, K.A. Bjorndal, L.W. Botsford, B.J. Bourque, R.H. Bradbury, R. Cooke, J. Erlandson, J.A. Estes, T.P. Hughes, S. Kidwell, C.B. Lange, H.S. Lenihan, J.M. Pandolfi, C.H. Peterson, R.S. Steneck, M.J. Tegner, and R.R. Warner. 2001. Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 629–647.
Jones, C.G., J.H. Lawton, and M. Shachak. 1994. Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69: 373–386.
Korringa, P. 1952. Recent advances in oyster biology. Quarterly Review of Biology 27(3): 266–308.
Mallin, M.A., S.H. Ensign, T.L. Wheeler, and D.B. Mayes. 2002. Pollutant removal efficacy of three wet detention ponds. Journal of Environmental Quality 31(2): 654–660.
Mann, R. 2000. Restoring the oyster reef communities in the Chesapeake Bay: A commentary. Journal of Shellfish Research 19: 335–339.
May, E.B. 1971. A survey of the oyster and oyster shell resources of Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation, Dauphin Island, Alabama. Alabama Marine Resources Bulletin 4: 1–52.
Meyer, D.L., E.C. Townsend, and G.W. Thayer. 1997. Stabilization and erosion control value of oyster cultch for intertidal marsh. Restoration Ecology 5: 93–99.
Nelson, K.A., L.A. Leonard, M.H. Posey, T.D. Alphin, and M.A. Mallin. 2004. Using transplanted oyster (Crassostrea virginica) beds to improve water quality in small tidal creeks: A pilot study. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 298: 347–368.
Newell, R.I.E. 1988. Ecological changes in the Chesapeake Bay: Are they the result of overharvesting the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica? In Understanding the estuary: Advances in Chesapeake Bay research, ed. M.P. Lynch and E.C. Krome, 536–546. Baltimore, Maryland: Chesapeake Bay Research Consortium, Publication 129.
Newell, R.I.E., and E.W. Koch. 2004. Modeling seagrass density and distribution in response to changes to turbidity stemming from bivalve filtration and seagrass sediment stabilization. Estuaries 27(5): 793–806.
Newell, R.I.E., W.M. Kemp, J.D. Hagy III, C.A. Cerco, J.M. Testa, and W.R. Boynton. 2007. Top-down control of phytoplankton by oysters in Chesapeake Bay, USA: Comment on Pomeroy et al. (2006). Marine Ecology Progress Series 341: 293–298.
Paerl, H.W., J. Dyble, P.H. Moisander, R.T. Noble, M.F. Piehler, J.L. Pinckney, T.F. Steppe, L. Twomey, and L.M. Valdes. 2003. Microbial indicators of aquatic ecosystem change: current applications to eutrophication studies. FEMS Microbial Ecology 46: 233–246.
Paine, R.T. 1966. Food web complexity and species diversity. The American Naturalist 100: 65–75.
Peierls, B.L., N.F. Caraco, M.L. Pace, and J.J. Cole. 1991. Human influence on river nitrogen. Nature 350: 386–387.
Pennock, J.R., and J.L.W. Cowan. 2001. Analytical instrumentation methods manual. Marine environmental sciences consortium. Technical Report 98–003: 69.
Pinckney, J.I. 1999. Responses of the phytoplankton community growth rate to nutrient pulses in variable estuarine environments. Journal of Phycology 35: 1455–1463.
Pomeroy, L.R., C.F. D’Elia, and L.C. Schaffner. 2006. Limits to top-down control of phytoplankton by oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Marine Ecology Progress Series 325: 301–309.
Riisgard, H.U., J. Lassen, M. Kortegaard, L.F. Moller, M. Friedrichs, M.H. Fensen, and P.S. Larsen. 2007. Interplay between filter-feeding zoobenthos and hydrodynanics in the shallow Odense Fjord (Denmark)—earlier and recent studies, perspectives and modeling. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 75: 281–295.
Sand-Jensen, K., and J. Borum. 1991. Interactions among phytoplankton, periphyton, and macrophytes in temperate freshwater and estuaries. Aquatic Botany 41: 137–175.
Shoaf, W.T., and B.W. Lium. 1976. Improved extraction of chlorophyll a and b from algae using dimethyl sulfoxide. Limnology and Oceanography 21: 926–928.
Soniat, T.M., C.M. Finelli, and J.T. Ruiz. 2004. Vertical structure and predator refuge mediate oyster reef development and community dynamics. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 340: 163–182.
Strickland, J.D.H., and T.R. Parsons. 1972. A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 167: 1–310.
Tobias, C.R., M. Cieri, B.J. Peterson, L.A. Deegan, J. Vallino, and J. Hughes. 2003. Processing watershed-derived nitrogen in a well-flushed New England estuary. Limnology and Oceanography 48(5):1766–1778.
Underwood, A.J. 1992. Beyond BACI: The detection of environmental impacts on populations in the real, but variable, world. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 161(2):145–178.
Valiela, I., M. Geist, J. McClelland, and G. Tomasky. 2000. Nitrogen loading from watersheds to estuaries: Verification of the Waquiot Bay nitrogen loading model. Biogeochemistry 41(3):277–293.
Vitousek, P.M., H.A. Mooney, J. Lubchenco, and J.M. Mellilo. 1997. Human domination of Earth's ecosystem. Science 277: 494–499.
Welschmeyer, N.A. 1994. Fluorometric analysis of chlorophyll a in the presence of chlorophyll b and pheopigments. Limnology and Oceanography 39(8): 1985–1992.
Wynne, T.T., R.P. Stumpf, M.C. Tomlinson, V. Ransibrahmanakul, and T.A. Villareal. 2005. Detecting Karenia brevis blooms and algal resuspension in the western Gulf of Mexico with satellite ocean color imagery. Harmful Algae 4: 992–1003.
Zhao, H., and Q. Chen. 2008. Characteristics of extreme meteorological forcing and water level in Mobile Bay, Alabama. Estuaries and Coasts 31: 704–718.
Acknowledgments
We thank all who helped in the project, including D. Byron, L. Linn, C.S. Major, J. Goff, the Powers laboratory, and the Heck laboratory. C. Duarte and two anonymous reviewers provided comments that improved the manuscript. This research was funded through the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [award # NA17FZ2602-05 (KM); award # NA17FZ2602-07 (JC)].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Plutchak, R., Major, K., Cebrian, J. et al. Impacts of Oyster Reef Restoration on Primary Productivity and Nutrient Dynamics in Tidal Creeks of the North Central Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts 33, 1355–1364 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9327-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9327-9