The Eastern oyster’s utility in restoration has long been recognized for its critical role in water quality maintenance and as an effective “green” infrastructure intervention for coastal protection. In order to maximize efficacy of these ecosystem services in a variety of restoration contexts, existing variation among populations, as well as the possibility for adaptation to contaminated areas, must be established. Oysters from metals-contaminated Superfund sites were compared with those from corresponding “clean” sites across the Eastern United States from Maine to Virginia for organismal robustness, variation in the heavy metal-resistance geneCvMT-1, and metal deposition in shells.
Results/Conclusions
Condition index (CI), a quantitative measure of robustness, varied significantly across a north-south transect along the Eastern Seaboard: those in the mid-Atlantic region had significantly lower tissue-to-total mass ratios than those from New England sites. CI ratios between “clean” and contaminated sites yielded mixed significance based on spatial and hydrologic factors. These results, along with preliminary genetic and ecotoxicological data from X-ray fluorometric shell analysis, suggest the importance of understanding both existing organismal variation along with environmental factors such as water quality and oceanographic dynamics in a holistic approach towards reef restoration.