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Can relic shells be an effective settlement substrate for oyster reef restoration?
Author(s) -
Hanke Marc H.,
Bobby Neha,
Sanchez Rachel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
restoration ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1526-100X
pISSN - 1061-2971
DOI - 10.1111/rec.13371
Subject(s) - dredging , oyster , substrate (aquarium) , reef , settlement (finance) , fishery , shell (structure) , environmental science , ecology , biology , engineering , civil engineering , world wide web , computer science , payment
Acute storms (e.g. hurricanes) are major stressors to eastern oysters ( Crassostrea virginica ) through burying oysters and settlement substrate. Subsequently, managers use many restoration efforts, of which one approach is bag‐less dredging. This resurfaces relic shells as settlement substrate; however, buried shells turn black in anoxic sediments potentially influencing spat settlement. This study compared three shell types: sun‐cured white shell utilized in oyster reef restoration and two representative black shell types for bag‐less dredging. Settlement was significantly higher on sun‐cured white shell suggesting that restoration activities resurfacing black shells may not provide suitable substrate and alternative methods of providing substrate should be prioritized.