The Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a keystone species in northeast Florida estuaries, including the Guana Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) Reserve. However, scientists, managers and oyster harvesters are concerned about the long-term persistence and viability of local populations. In the GTM Reserve, water quality issues are causing some areas to be closed for harvesting, which could be intensifying harvesting pressure in remaining open areas. Other factors, such as predation, disease, and increased salinity, can also slow growth or kill oysters. This complicated situation recently led stakeholders and reserve staff to establish the GTM Oyster Water Quality Task Force in order to identify causes and collaboratively address the region’s oyster challenges.

We used a quantitative sampling device to compare nekton use among high-relief live oyster reef, vegetated marsh edge Spartina alterniflora, and nonvegetated bottom habitat types.

Oysters are the tiny superheroes of coastal environments. They enhance water quality, create habitat, and protect shorelines from storms and erosion. Along the Pacific Coast, native oysters are in decline, due in part to sedimentation, inadequate protection, and unsustainable harvests. Planning for a future that includes healthy native oyster populations depends on our ability to select sites for restoration that not only account for these challenges but also the impacts of a changing climate.

This multi-reserve catalyst project compared established and emerging methods for assessing intertidal oyster reef community structure and ecosystem function. With their partners, the project catalyzed a strong community of practice in the Southeastern U.S. to support management efforts related to oyster reef conservation and the advancement of monitoring protocol. The Project Intertidal oyster reefs provide key habitat for a diverse and productive community of estuarine fauna, yet have declined drastically due to overfishing and disease outbreaks. With increased conservation and restoration efforts for intertidal oyster reefs, there is a need for more efficient ways of assessing oyster reefs as well as more holistic understandings of how oyster reefs function as habitats for other estuarine animals. However, assessing the ecosystem benefits of intertidal oyster reefs is challenging because the reefs occupy a dynamic tidal environment characterized by highly turbid water. Established sampling techniques for assessing intertidal oyster reefs are labor intensive and therefore difficult to replicate at multiple sites, limiting the ecological information they can provide, especially at large scales. In contrast, emerging techniques prove promising for examining intertidal oyster reef community structure and ecosystem function. Collaborating with four reserves and five universities, this project compared established sampling techniques for assessing intertidal oyster reefs with four emerging methods that each provide unique ecological information: 1. High-Resolution Acoustic Imaging 2. Stable Isotope Analysis 3. eDNA Metabarcoding 4. Oyster Disease Assays The project team applied these methods alongside traditional methods for collection of free-swimming marine organisms via nets/traps at four reserves in the southeastern U.S. Afterwards, the team convened with their partners and intended users to examine the results and evaluate the potential utility and feasibility of incorporating the emerging methods into their research and monitoring programs. Users overwhelmingly expressed that expanded application of these emerging techniques could improve the assessment of the function of multiple different oyster reef types. The results of this Catalyst project, along with the collaborative network that project has built, bolsters technical capacity at reserves and state agencies to understand the function of critical habitats.

Data were collected for a project evaluating faunal succession states in both restored and natural oyster reefs located in the same comparative environment. Using space-for-time substitution, we sampled crustacean and fish host-parasite taxa from x3 replicate treatments of Natural reefs, as well as reefs restored in the years 1997, 2000, 2011, and 2016. We hypothesized that infra-communities of trophically transmitted parasites were more reliable indicators of succession trajectories and overall oyster reef trophic complexity. In contrast to the diversity of free-living taxa, which was highly variable, parasite diversity increased through time (2016 to 2011 to 2000 to 1997), and data from the older reefs (2000, 1997) was not different from that collected from Natural reefs.

Information about dive activities were recorded into the Cruise Information Management System (CIMS) by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration's data manager during the "Estuary to the Abyss 2004: Exploring Along the Latitude 31-30 Transect" expedition, August 20 through September 1, 2004. Information contained in CIMS includes submersible, remotely operated vehicle, autonomous underwater vehicle, and SCUBA operational information and a summary of scientific observations during each dive; ship activity information (positions, transits, and visitor shuttles); sample information; water column and bottom conditions; weather observations; sea state observations; education and outreach activity information; media event information; scientific instrumentation information; transect information; dive site profiles; and a record of all data collected by principal investigators. The data presented here are the tables from the original CIMS which is a FileMaker Pro database.