Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Deevesh A. Hemraj, Melanie J. Bishop, Boze Hancock, Jay J. Minuti, Ruth H. Thurstan, Philine S. E. Zu Ermgassen, Bayden D. Russell
Summary: Human activities have caused degradation of ecosystems globally, resulting in a recovery debt. Restoration efforts have shown initial success in increasing biodiversity and abundance of species, but the rate of recovery decreases over time, leaving a 35% shortfall in global recovery compared to the predisturbed state. Future coastal development should consider not only immediate damage but also potential generational loss.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Francisco Martinez-Baena, Brendan S. Lanham, Ian M. McLeod, Matthew D. Taylor, Stephen McOrrie, Alyssa Luongo, Melanie J. Bishop
Summary: This study found that oyster reefs play important roles in supporting fish communities, and they have similar functions as adjacent seagrass beds and mangrove forests. The number of fish observed in oyster reefs is almost double than that in mangroves and seagrass beds, and some fish species are unique to oyster reefs and mangroves containing oysters. These findings contribute to the development of restoration and management strategies that maximize fisheries benefit.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
J. B. Hinwood, E. J. McLean
Summary: This study utilizes a multi-factor approach to assess the dynamics of small intermittently open and closed estuarine lakes and lagoons, using publicly available data. The results show that these estuaries have a sequence of regime states, with transitions driven by external forcings.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Francisco Martinez-Baena, Vincent Raoult, Matthew D. Taylor, Troy F. Gaston, Ian McLeod, Melanie J. Bishop
Summary: Remnant oyster reefs play a critical role in the trophic ecology of both resident and transient species in Australian estuaries, contributing through direct predation and consumption of reef-dwelling organisms. The restoration of oyster reefs will enhance fisheries productivity by broadening the trophic resource base and promoting estuarine energy transfer.
ESTUARIES AND COASTS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Jonathan H. Grabowski, Christopher J. Baillie, Adam Baukus, Rachael Carlyle, F. Joel Fodrie, Rachel K. Gittman, A. Randall Hughes, David L. Kimbro, Juhyung Lee, Hunter S. Lenihan, Sean P. Powers, Kevin Sullivan
Summary: Coastal marine habitats are being degraded and in response there has been large-scale restoration efforts. This study examines the recovery of oyster reefs and their role in supporting fish and invertebrate communities. The results show that restored reefs can support similar faunal communities to natural reefs, with higher densities of prey species. The findings also highlight the importance of considering landscape setting in restoration decision making to enhance the recovery of ecosystem goods and services.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hugo Flavio, Rochelle Seitz, David Eggleston, Jon C. Svendsen, Josianne Stottrup
Summary: This study systematically reviewed the relationships between hard-bottom habitats and commercially harvested species, indicating that these habitats have positive effects on fish reproduction and biomass, especially for cod and herring.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Vanessa F. Fonseca, Irina A. Duarte, Eduardo Feijao, Ana Rita Matos, Bernardo Duarte
Summary: Estuaries have been preferred areas for human settlement, but human activities have led to a significant decrease in their environmental quality. This study developed a multimetric index based on fatty acid profiles of three abundant estuarine species to detect contamination gradients in a large urban estuary, showing high classification accuracies for different sampled sites.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Mason Smith, David Chagaris, Richard Paperno, Scott Markwith
Summary: The study predicts the response of the Florida Bay ecosystem to the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), sea-level rise, and future temperature increase. It suggests that biomass and fisheries catch will change, with increases for many estuarine species and sportfish, and decreases for others. The study concludes that the Florida Bay ecosystem is likely to benefit from restoration despite the projected impacts of climate change.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
V. Raoult, M. D. Taylor, R. K. Schmidt, I. D. Cresswell, C. Ware, T. F. Gaston
Summary: Estimating the economic value of ecosystem services derived from estuarine habitats is important for prioritising management, conservation, and restoration activities. A novel approach using Bayesian stable isotope mixing models has been developed to estimate the value of estuarine habitats for commercially harvested species, but the difficulty of separating primary nutrient sources in estuaries with saltmarsh and seagrasses has limited its application. This study extends the approach and uses tri-variate isotopic composition to model the economic value of saltmarsh, seagrass, and other producer groups in a commercial fishery. The results highlight the impact of areal coverage on the comparative value of estuarine habitats, suggesting that habitats with higher proportional contribution to exploited species' diets may be of higher priority for conservation or repair.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kuttanelloor Roshni, Chelapurath Radhakrishnan Renjithkumar, Giri Bhavan Sreekanth, Rajeev Raghavan, Kutty Ranjeet
Summary: Based on the study of fish guild structures in Vembanad Lake, India, it was found that there were seven ecological guilds, six feeding guilds, three vertical distribution guilds, five reproductive-mode functional groups, and five flow preference guilds. The estuary had high species diversity, but low individual species abundance, and the fish diversity varied from upper to lower estuary. The absence of a significant relationship between season and fish guild structuring could be attributed to anthropogenic interventions in the middle zone. Salinity variations considerably influenced the fish guild formation in the estuary.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Gabriel W. Benson, Melinda J. Donnelly, Paul E. Sacks, Linda J. Walters
Summary: Intertidal reefs of Crassostrea virginica in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida, have experienced a significant decline in reef area and coverage between 1943 and 2021 due to reef fragmentation, footprint loss, boating activity, and mangrove expansion. The restoration efforts between 2007 and 2021 have shown positive impacts, but overall, there has been a decrease of 62.6% in C. virginica reef coverage. Understanding these changes is crucial for effective resource management, restoration practices, and monitoring climate change impacts on protected estuaries.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Rachel S. Smith, Selina L. Cheng, Max C. N. Castorani
Summary: Oyster restoration can significantly increase oyster production, habitat provisioning, nitrogen removal, and sediment nutrients and organic matter. Restored oyster reefs perform similarly to reference reefs in providing these ecosystem services.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yanlong He, Lixia Zhao, Shouhai Liu, Xin Zhao, Yutan Wang, Xiaoshan Jiang
Summary: Ecological corridors are important for protecting biodiversity, but their significance for migratory species in estuaries is not well understood. This study investigated the migration patterns and optimal habitats of Coilia mystus in the Yangtze estuary. The results provide insights into maintaining population and community connectivity in this important ecosystem.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Oliver N. Shipley, Alisa L. Newton, Michael G. Frisk, Gregory A. Henkes, Jake S. LaBelle, Merry D. Camhi, Michael W. Hyatt, Hans Walters, Jill A. Olin
Summary: By utilizing nitrogen stable isotope clocks, researchers were able to predict the time since immigration and timing of habitat shifts in migratory species like juvenile sand tiger sharks. Their study showed that these sharks predominantly arrived to estuarine habitats between June and July, with some individuals arriving as early as mid-May. The isotopically inferred arrival estimates were validated through comparison with acoustically tracked individuals, indicating the reliability of this approach for estimating time of arrival into new habitats.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Shaoliang Lyu, Hagai Nsobi Lauden, Lifei Wang, Guobao Chen, Zhichao Wang, Kun Lin, Xuefeng Wang
Summary: Due to the lack of suitable methods for evaluating the effectiveness of artificial reefs, two experiments were conducted to examine the feasibility of acoustic telemetry for tracking aquatic animals. The results showed that the logistic regression model was effective in balancing the detection probability at different distances, with high site fidelity and small spatial scale of habitat use for reef fish. Overall, this study supports the feasibility of acoustic telemetry for quantifying the associations between artificial reefs and fish.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)