Meeting Abstract

S10.6  Wednesday, Jan. 6  Fisheries collapses, restoration challenges, spread of non-natives and the emergence large-scale aquaculture: anthropogenic-driven changes to ecosystem-engineering oyster species LUCKENBACH, Mark W.; Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary luck@vims.edu

Oysters in the genus Crassostrea are quintessential ecosystem engineers, often providing the predominant hard substrate habitat in temperate, soft-sediment, estuarine environments. The role of these reef habitats in providing attachment surfaces for epifauna and nesting, foraging and refuge sites for motile species is well established, as are their roles in benthic-pelagic coupling and control of some water column processes. Dramatic declines in native oyster reefs have occurred globally, primarily resulting from overfishing, habitat destruction, coastal pollution and disease. Numerous efforts are ongoing to restore these biogenic habitats, but these efforts face significant challenges, including resolving conflicts between capture fishery and ecological restoration goals. In general, these efforts have failed to address the multiple stressors that threaten existing oyster reefs and declines continue. Meanwhile, oysters introduced outside their native range for the purpose of fisheries enhancement or aquaculture have become invasive in many areas, threatening native oyster populations and local biodiversity. The emergence of large-scale oyster aquaculture as an alternative to a wild capture fishery has resulted in what are essentially agro-ecosystems in which the growth form and, presumably, ecosystem functions of oysters are altered in many coastal systems. In reviewing and summarizing these trends, I argue that determining the broader ecological consequences of anthropogenic changes to oyster populations requires understanding which ecosystem engineering functions are, and which are not, provided by these human-altered populations.