Geomorphology and sediment dynamics of the Liyashan oyster reefs,Jiangsu Coast,China

Oyster reefs and their spatial patterns are deemed to change the local hydrodynamic condition and exert profound impacts on the grain size,concentration and transportation of suspended sediments.Meanwhile,high suspended sediment concentration often results in excess mortality among oysters.Oyster reefs are rare and vital ecosystem in Liyashan national marine park,Jiangsu Coast,China.However,urgent conservation efforts should be made on account of the drastic reduction in reef areas.To investigate the sediment dynamics and the geomorphology,two tripod observation systems were deployed and UAV aerial surveys with elevation measurement using Real Time Kinematic(RTK)were also carried out.High mud content(60%)was found in the bed sediment at the reef ridge,causing much lower drag coefficient than other recorded values of living oyster reefs,indicating the death of oysters and the degradation of reefs in Liyashan.Ridgelines of the string reefs at 45°to the current direction and high suspended sediment concentration in the water body(50–370 mg/L)that exceeds the threshold(200 mg/L),which would affect nutrient uptake efficiency and further result in gill saturation,decrease of clearance rate and associated deposition,were probably crucial causes of the death of oysters.The findings are useful for restoring natural oyster reefs and designing artificial reefs for nature-based coastal defense.

Characterisation of the Bacteria and Archaea Community Associated with Wild Oysters, At Three Possible Restoration Sites in the North Sea

With 85% of the global oyster reefs destroyed, there is an urgent need for large scale restoration to benefit from the ecosystem services provided by biogenic oyster reefs and their associated biodiversity, including microorganisms that drive marine biogeochemical cycles. This experiment established a baseline for the monitoring of the bacterial and archaeal community associated with wild oysters, using samples from their immediate environment of the Voordelta, with cohabiting Crassostrea gigas and Ostrea edulis, Duikplaats with only C. gigas attached to rocks, and the Dansk Skaldyrcentre, with no onsite oysters. The microbial profiling was carried out through DNA analysis of samples collected from the surfaces of oyster shells and their substrate, the sediment and seawater. Following 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and bioinformatics, alpha indices implied high species abundance and diversity in sediment but low abundance in seawater. As expected, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Thaumarchaeota dominated the top 20 OTUs. In the Voordelta, OTUs related to Colwellia, Shewanella and Psychrobium differentiated the oysters collected from a reef with those attached to rocks. Duikplaats were distinct for sulfur-oxidizers Sulfurimonas and sulfate-reducers from the Sva 0081 sediment group. Archaea were found mainly in sediments and the oyster associated microbiome, with greater abundance at the reef site, consisting mostly of Thaumarchaeota from the family Nitrosopumilaceae. The oyster free site displayed archaea in sediments only, and algal bloom indicator microorganisms from the Rhodobacteraceae, Flavobacteriaceae family and genus [Polaribacter] huanghezhanensis, in addition to the ascidian symbiotic partner, Synechococcus. This study suggests site specific microbiome shifts, influenced by the presence of oysters and the type of substrate.

Holocene sea level trend on the west coast of Bohai Bay,China: reanalysis and standardization

Using 110 newly revised Holocene sea level indicators categorized into three types,sediments(67),shelly cheniers(27)and oyster reefs(16),this paper firstly provides a Holocene relative sea level curve,based on multiple approaches of litho-and biostratigraphies and sedimentary faces analysis,for the west coast of Bohai Bay,China.Following considerations,including indicative meaning,the paleo tidal pattern and range and conversion from mean tidal level to mean sea level,an apparent relative mean sea level(RMSL)curve was further reconstructed.After systematical calibration using CALIB,those of the 48 reworked samples were further corrected for the residence-time effect.Similarly,the younger ages for another 35 samples were chosen at the subsample level.These result in a younger-oriented shift for about 0.5 ka.Three local spatial factors,including neotectonic subsidence(average rate about 0.1 mm/a),self-compaction of unconsolidated sediments(between a few decimeters to about 6 m)and subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal(between a few centimeters to about 2.5 m),were quantitatively corrected.Finally,the amended RMSL curve after eliminating all these local temporo-spatial factors is very likely to show non-existence of mid-Holocene highstand and imply potential influences of both ice-volume equivalent sea level and regional glacial isostatic adjustment.Although it is still unable to divide both global and regional factors,the slowdown of sea level rise,in 7.5–6.8 ka with a maximum height less than+1 m,may constrain the model effort in the near future.

Ecosystem Restoration:Enhancing Ecosystem Services with Floating Aquaculture

Restoration ecologists recognize the need for restoring ecosystem services in sustainable ways that meet societal needs.In the UK,Ireland,Australia,and some US states the goal is restoring native oyster reefs.In other states,failures at restoration due to poor water quality and predation have focused restoration activities on techniques that work,restoring intertidal reefs and generating living shorelines that reduce or reverse erosion.In the United States,restoring water quality and reducing or reversing erosion are societally accepted entry points for repairing estuarine ecosystems.This study is an overview of the current status of oyster reef restoration and provide a novel approach called“oyster reef in a bag”.Combining oyster reef restoration efforts with existing floating oyster aquaculture technology generates novel ecosystems that are a combination of biofouling and oyster reef communities.These novel ecosystems could be a practical beginning to improve water quality,mitigate erosion and restore higher trophic level ecosystem services.