Decadal changes in oyster reefs in the Big Bend of Florida's Gulf Coast

J R Seavey,M Berrigan,W E Pine,L Sturmer,P Frederick

doi:10.1890/es11-00205.1

Abstract

Oyster reefs are among the world's most endangered marine habitats with an estimated 85% loss from historical levels worldwide. Oyster reefs offer diverse ecological and social services for people and natural environments; unfortunately, reefs are also highly sensitive to impairment from natural and human-induced disasters. Understanding the resilience of oyster reef communities to disturbance is key to developing effective conservation and restoration plans. Florida's Big Bend coastline (Gulf of Mexico coast from Crystal River to Apalachee Bay) supports large expanses of oyster reef habitat that have existed for thousands of years in a region that is one of the most pristine coastal zones in the continental US. We assessed trends in oyster habitat along the Big Bend region between 1982 and 2011 by examining changes in areal extent and distance of oyster reefs from shore. During our study period, we found a 66% net loss of oyster reef area (124.05 ha) with losses concentrated on offshore (88%), followed b...

Highlights

Oyster reefs are among the world’s most endangered marine habitats with an estimated 85% decline worldwide (Beck et al 2011)
Net change in area of oyster habitat Ground truthing of the 2010 digitized map was based on 20 on-the-ground photos and our 36 field survey sites and showed 100% correct match between these known reefs and our digitized maps in identifying both oyster reefs and classifying reef type
We found a decrease of 124 ha of oyster habitat between 1982 and 2010 in the Big Bend of Florida, with a monotonic, nonreversing decline over time

Summary

Introduction

Oyster reefs are among the world’s most endangered marine habitats with an estimated 85% decline worldwide (Beck et al 2011). This loss is alarming as oyster habitat is a critical component of coastal estuaries (NOAA 2005), serving a wide range of important economic, cultural, and ecological roles (Coen et al 2007). While oyster resources in the Gulf currently support large fisheries and critical ecosystem services, oysters in this region have declined from their historic levels (Kirby 2004, Beck et al 2011). The world’s largest remaining natural oyster reefs are concentrated in a region vulnerable to disturbance from anthropogenic activity and to global climate change. Understanding the resilience of oyster reef communities in the Gulf to these and other threats is important for developing effective conservation, management, and restoration plans for this species and this globally significant habitat

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