January 28, 2025 - Foundation species such as the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) serve numerous ecological functions and provide myriad ecosystem services within coastal environments. These reefs improve water quality, stabilize the adjacent salt marsh, and provide key habitat for approximately 300 species, including fishes, shrimps, and crabs, among other fauna. However, due to overfishing, disease and other stressors, oyster reef habitat has declined drastically. With increased conservation and restoration efforts to increase oyster reef quantity, there is a need for a more holistic understanding of oyster reef condition and function for reef-associated fauna.
In 2023, a Catalyst team comprising 4 Reserves and 4 university partners sampled oyster reefs across the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast. The team used traditional sampling, acoustic imaging, stable isotope analyses, oyster disease assays, and environmental DNA to characterize the community of reef-associated fauna. Following the field campaign, the team held two project meetings and a virtual workshop to engage directly with intended users and management agencies. In this webinar, the project team shares high-level takeaways from their field sampling analyses and methods comparisons, describes their successful user engagement process, and gauges interest in further System-wide participation.
Speakers: Matt Kimball (Baruch Marine Field Lab, University of South Carolina) and Robert Dunn (North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR)
View resources related to the webinar:
https://nerrssciencecollaborative.org/resource/examining-oyster-reef-fauna-using-non-invasive-sampling-techniques
Learn more about the project and explore associated resources:
https://nerrssciencecollaborative.org/project/Kimball23
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00:00 - Intro
03:23 - Overview of presentation
04:04 - Oyster reefs in estuaries
07:04 - Research objectives and approach
13:16 - Acoustic imaging
17:34 - Stable isotope analysis
19:40 - Oyster disease assays
20:50 - eDNA
26:13 - Collaborative process and outreach
29:19 - Next steps
30:50 - Q&A
46:36 - Poll and audience interactive segment