Wed, Aug 17, 2022: 8:30 AM-8:45 AM
518B
Background/Question/MethodsRestoration of foundation species promises to reverse environmental degradation and return lost ecosystem services, but the extent of ecosystem service recovery is rarely generalized across studies, especially in marine systems. Oyster reefs are increasingly being restored to reverse massive global declines and reclaim valuable ecosystem services, but the success and uncertainty of these investments have not been systematically quantified. We synthesized data from 243 restored-degraded reef pairs and 135 restored-reference reef pairs across 3500 km of U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coastline.
Results/ConclusionsOn average, restoration caused 21-fold increases in oyster production, 34-97% enhancement of habitat provisioning (community abundance, richness, biomass), 54% more nitrogen removal, and 89-95% greater sediment nutrients and organic matter relative to degraded habitats. Moreover, restored reefs matched reference reefs for these and other targeted ecosystem services. Thus, our meta-analysis demonstrates that oyster restoration substantially enhances a suite of ecosystem services to increase population, community, and ecosystem functions in degraded systems and match those of natural restoration targets.
Results/ConclusionsOn average, restoration caused 21-fold increases in oyster production, 34-97% enhancement of habitat provisioning (community abundance, richness, biomass), 54% more nitrogen removal, and 89-95% greater sediment nutrients and organic matter relative to degraded habitats. Moreover, restored reefs matched reference reefs for these and other targeted ecosystem services. Thus, our meta-analysis demonstrates that oyster restoration substantially enhances a suite of ecosystem services to increase population, community, and ecosystem functions in degraded systems and match those of natural restoration targets.