Oyster Reefs at Risk and Recommendations for Conservation, Restoration, and Management

2011/02/01 by Michael W. Beck, Robert D. Brumbaugh, Laura Airoldi +13 · 1,403 citations
Environmental Science · #Biology #Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies #Ecology #Fishery #Geography #Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies #Marine and fisheries research #Oyster #Reef

paper · open access · doi:10.1525/bio.2011.61.2.5

published in BioScience 61(2), 107-116 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2011/02/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Native oyster reefs once dominated many estuaries, ecologically and economically. Centuries of resource extraction exacerbated by coastal degradationhave pushed oyster reefs to the brink of functional extinction worldwide. We examined the condition of oyster reefs across 144 bays and 44ecoregions; our comparisons of past with present abundances indicate that more than 90% of them have been lost in bays (70%) and ecoregions(63%). In many bays, more than 99% of oyster reefs have been lost and are functionally extinct. Overall, we estimate that 85% of oyster reefs havebeen lost globally. Most of the worlds remaining wild capture of native oysters (> 75%) comes from just five ecoregions in North America, yetthe condition of reefs in these ecoregions is poor at best, except in the Gulf of Mexico. We identify many cost-effective solutions for conservation,restoration, and the management of fisheries and nonnative species that could reverse these oyster losses and restore reef ecosystem services.

Cited by

• Missing native oyster (Ostrea edulis L.) beds in a European Marine Protected Area: Should there be widespread restorative management?
• Selecting the optimal artificial reefs to achieve fish habitat enhancement goals
• Soundscape enrichment enhances recruitment and habitat building on new oyster reef restorations
• Ocean acidification in the Gulf of Mexico: Drivers, impacts, and unknowns
• Mangrove-associated Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas) influence estuarine biodiversity
• Multidimensional Experiences of Oystering: Investigating Selectivity and Management in Contemporary and Precolonial Oyster Assemblages From Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
• Predictors of outplanted marine bivalve survival in restoration: A review and synthesis
• European Native Oyster Reef Ecosystems Are Universally Collapsed
• The benefits of bivalve reef restoration: A global synthesis of underrepresented species
• Bonamia infection in native oysters (Ostrea edulis) in relation to European restoration projects
• Missing the full story: First estimates of carbon deposition rates for the European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis
• Return of the native: Survival, growth and condition of European oysters reintroduced to German offshore waters
• Come, tell me how you live: Habitat suitability analysis for Ostrea edulis restoration
• The value and opportunity of restoring Australia's lost rock oyster reefs
• Characterizing canopy complexity of natural and restored intertidal oyster reefs (Crassostrea virginica) with a novel laser‐scanning method
• Valuing the contributions of conservation volunteers to coastal society
• Chasing windows of opportunity for habitat formation: Spatial and temporal determinants of oyster settlement rates
• Subtidal shellfish reefs as fish habitats within urban coastal seascapes of Gulf St. Vincent, South Australia
• Can relic shells be an effective settlement substrate for oyster reef restoration?
• Acute warming combined with hypoxia and hypercapnia challenges but does not overwhelm Ostrea edulis passive tolerance mechanisms
• Perspectives on aquaculture's contribution to theSustainable Development Goalsfor improved human and planetary health
• Build it and they will come: habitat and spatial drivers shape fish assemblages and ecological functions on shellfish reefs
• Living with the past: larval eastern oyster ( Crassostrea virginica ) culture salinity affects post-metamorphic physiological performance
• Cardiac performance mirrors the passive thermal tolerance range in the oyster Ostrea edulis
• Evidence on the performance of nature-based solutions interventions for coastal protection in biogenic, shallow ecosystems: a systematic map
• Incorporating generalist seagrasses enhances habitat restoration in a changing environment
• Marine Conservation Leadership: Does Australia Walk the Talk?
• From shell to shelter: investigating small reef fish abundance on degraded seafloor restored with mussels and shell material
• Modeling Oyster Reef Reproductive Sustainability: Analyzing Gamete Viability, Hydrodynamics, and Reef Structure to Facilitate Restoration of Crassostrea virginica
• Advancing ocean sustainability through better science integration: perspectives of Early Career Ocean Professionals
• Subtidal temperate reefs in marginal seas enhance biodiversity, food web complexity, and ecosystem stability
• Improving fecundity estimates to inform transborder legal size limits of soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria L.) in eastern North America
• Loss of an ecological baseline through the eradication of oyster reefs from coastal ecosystems and human memory
• Shell Death and Density Influences Habitat Use of Intertidal Pinnid (Pinna bicolor) Ecosystems
• Is AI currently capable of identifying wild oysters? A comparison of human annotators against the AI model, ODYSSEE
• Nature-based and bioinspired solutions for coastal protection: an overview among key ecosystems and a promising pathway for new functional and sustainable designs
• History of the Virginia Oyster Fishery, Chesapeake Bay, USA
• The development of multiplex PCR assays for the rapid identification of multiple Saccostrea species, and their practical applications in restoration and aquaculture
• Estimating enhanced fish production on restored shellfish reefs using automated data collection from underwater videos
• Status of Marine Biodiversity in the Anthropocene
• Habitat Modification and Coastal Protection by Ecosystem-Engineering Reef-Building Bivalves
• IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0: descriptive profiles for biomes and ecosystem functional groups
• Coral restoration: a mapping review through a scientometric analysis
• Contrasting futures for ocean and society from different anthropogenic CO 2 emissions scenarios
• Historical ecology with real numbers: past and present extent and biomass of an imperilled estuarine habitat. [europepmc]
• Transcriptomic analysis of candidate osmoregulatory genes in the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. [europepmc]
• Soundscape manipulation enhances larval recruitment of a reef-building mollusk. [europepmc]
• Oyster reef restoration supports increased nekton biomass and potential commercial fishery value. [europepmc]
• Invasion trajectory of Pacific oysters in the northern Wadden Sea. [europepmc]
• Time to cash in on positive interactions for coral restoration. [europepmc]
• Oyster reefs as carbon sources and sinks. [europepmc]
• Oyster reproduction is compromised by acidification experienced seasonally in coastal regions. [europepmc]
• The global flood protection savings provided by coral reefs. [europepmc]
• Personality interacts with habitat quality to govern individual mortality and dispersal patterns. [europepmc]
• Transcriptomics and Fitness Data Reveal Adaptive Plasticity of Thermal Tolerance in Oysters Inhabiting Different Tidal Zones. [europepmc]
• Active management is required to turn the tide for depleted Ostrea edulis stocks from the effects of overfishing, disease and invasive species. [europepmc]
• Oyster breakwater reefs promote adjacent mudflat stability and salt marsh growth in a monsoon dominated subtropical coast. [europepmc]
• A conservation palaeobiological perspective on Chesapeake Bay oysters. [europepmc]
• Nanopore Sequencing and De Novo Assembly of a Black-Shelled Pacific Oyster ( Crassostrea gigas ) Genome. [europepmc]
• Prehistoric baseline reveals substantial decline of oyster reef condition in a Gulf of Mexico conservation priority area. [europepmc]
• Occurrence of Microplastic Pollution at Oyster Reefs and Other Coastal Sites in the Mississippi Sound, USA: Impacts of Freshwater Inflows from Flooding. [europepmc]
• Artificial habitats host elevated densities of large reef-associated predators. [europepmc]
• Impacts of Neonicotinoids on Molluscs: What We Know and What We Need to Know. [europepmc]
• Genome-wide analysis of natural and restored eastern oyster populations reveals local adaptation and positive impacts of planting frequency and broodstock number. [europepmc]
• Indigenous oyster fisheries persisted for millennia and should inform future management. [europepmc]
• Oyster reef restoration facilitates the recovery of macroinvertebrate abundance, diversity, and composition in estuarine communities. [europepmc]
• Cascading effects of climate change on recreational marine flats fishes and fisheries. [europepmc]
• Genetic parallelism between European flat oyster populations at the edge of their natural range. [europepmc]
• Seascape connectivity: evidence, knowledge gaps and implications for temperate coastal ecosystem restoration practice and policy. [europepmc]

Related

• Chesapeake Oyster Reefs, Their Importance, Destruction and Guidelines for Restoring Them
• The value and opportunity of restoring Australia's lost rock oyster reefs
• Loss of an ecological baseline through the eradication of oyster reefs from coastal ecosystems and human memory
• Reestablishing larval connectivity in an estuarine landscape: the importance of shoreline and subtidal oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in a comprehensive oyster restoration program
• Habitat Modification and Coastal Protection by Ecosystem-Engineering Reef-Building Bivalves