{"id":2248,"date":"2024-10-17T10:31:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T14:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=2248"},"modified":"2024-10-17T10:31:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T14:31:47","slug":"if-you-give-an-oyster-an-artificial-reef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=2248","title":{"rendered":"If You Give an Oyster an Artificial Reef"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Hudson River laps silently along a newly built bridge, its posts fresh, clean, and devoid of life. This looks vastly different than that section of the river used to be a year ago before the old bridge had to be replaced. In the decades since it had been built, its posts had grown to be teeming with life, a feature of the oyster reefs growing there. These reefs housed many different animals, from the oysters themselves to barnacles, mussels, and many species of fish. The oysters worked to take care of their home, filtering out the human created pollutants in the water, making the river a clearer, healthier place. Now, the river has lost its ecosystem and the vital protection the inhabitants gave it. From the perspectives of most cars driving over the bridge, one would see a vast, beautiful river, waves crashing against the post, but they would not be able to see the crisis developing below their eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Natural Oyster Reef <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the demolition of the Tappan Zee Bridge was planned, scientists immediately realized that it would lead to a decline in the already diminishing eastern oyster population, as well as removing an important tool for river pollution cleanup. They took action to protect this important part of the ecosystem by creating a restoration effort. First, they planned a study to place artificial oyster reefs in certain areas and track the impact on the population in order to find the best way to restore habitats to the river. They used two different methods at each site and compared how they performed in terms of population and shell heights of the oyster. One method featured a cage called a gabion with oyster shells and a cavity inside for oysters to repopulate. The other was an artificial reef made of marine safe concrete, also covered with oyster shells. When oysters are larvae, they free swim in the river for two weeks before settling on the shells of older oysters. They break down the shell components of the old oyster in order to create their own shell. By putting the shells of dead oysters in the artificial habitats, the scientists created an ideal habitat for oyster larvae to grow. They tested these two methods at different sites for three years and found that each method was successfully populated by oysters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The setup of the gabions and artificial reefs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the full scale restoration effort, they chose three sites: two away from established oyster reefs and one close by to one, so they could compare which location would be most successful in the long run. The restoration effort was successful at all sites, preventing catastrophic oyster population decline and creating new, artificial oyster reefs to provide a habitat for these populations to grow. When the reefs were compared at the end of the study, they found that both the shell cages and the artificial reefs had similar numbers of population, though the artificial reefs had increased shell height. They also found that the experimental reefs at the site near natural reefs had an increased population<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years after the full restoration effort was finished, the scientists released a paper<\/a> detailing the results of the pre-restoration study and the results of the restoration itself. They were able to add data to the effectiveness of shell cages, solidifying another tool to conservation efforts. They also discovered that reefs will be most successful when placed next to an already established reef, contrary to what they theorized before the study. Going forward with restoration efforts in other areas, scientists will be able to use the lessons learned from this effort to ensure the most successful outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the globe, species are facing stress from the effects of humans on the environment. Many are facing extinction or endangerment. For far too many construction projects, the effects on the surrounding ecosystems are ignored, further driving the endangerment of the surrounding species. Thankfully for the Hudson River oysters, there is a community of caring humans advocating for the health of the river and its ecosystems. Human-driven pollution has plagued the Hudson River for decades, as well as human-driven changes to its flow and environment. For years it has been unsafe to drink and consume anything that comes from its underwater life. In the past few decades, humans have been working to repair the ecosystems<\/a> within the river that it has devastated. This study with the oysters has contributed to a future of a one day healthy Hudson River, with growing populations and a thriving ecosystem. It has set a precedent for us that we can and must take successful steps to mitigate the harm that we perpetrate on the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bergquist, Derk C., et al. \u201cDevelopment of Ecosystem Indicators for the Suwannee River Estuary: Oyster Reef Habitat Quality along a Salinity Gradient.\u201d Estuaries and Coasts<\/em>, vol. 29, no. 3, 2006, pp. 353\u201360. JSTOR<\/em>, http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/3809756. Accessed 28 Sept. 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grizzle, Raymond, et al. “Successful initial restoration of oyster habitat in the lower Hudson River Estuary, United States.” Restoration Ecology<\/em> 32.3 (2024): e14077.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s a Reef Ball?\u201d Reef Ball Foundation, 2002, www.reefball.org\/whatsaball\/whatsaball.htm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zu Ermgassen, Philine SE, et al. “Quantifying the loss of a marine ecosystem service: filtration by the eastern oyster in US estuaries.” Estuaries and coasts 36 (2013): 36-43.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hudson River laps silently along a newly built bridge, its posts fresh, clean, and devoid of life. This looks vastly different than that section of the river used to be a year ago before the old bridge had to be replaced. In the decades since it had been built, its posts had grown to…<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[59,50,57,58],"class_list":["post-2248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-ecosystem-repair","tag-hudson-river","tag-oyster-reef-restoration","tag-river-pollution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2258,"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2248\/revisions\/2258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}