Baseline Measurements of Eastern Oyster Populations ......Jul 28, 2017 · Oyster Benefits...
Transcript of Baseline Measurements of Eastern Oyster Populations ......Jul 28, 2017 · Oyster Benefits...
ScottBorsum,MelanieFuoco,GulnihalOzbay
DelawareStateUniversity,Dover,DE
BaselineMeasurementsofEasternOyster
Populations(Crassostreavirginica)inDelawareInlandBays
OysterBenefits
Ecological• Biologicalengineer• Decreasewaterturbidity• Algaepopulationcontrol• Nutrientsequestration• Benthicnutrientdeposits• Carbonsink• Increasediversity
Societal/Economical• Stormsurgeprotection
• Coastalsedimentstabilization
• Waterfiltration
• Healthyproteinsource• Createsjobs• Increasefishabundance
DelawareInlandBays• 343acresapprovedtobe
leased.
• Wildpopulationofoystersis
poorlystudied.
• Goalistocollectbaselinepopulationdatapriorto
commercialaquaculture.
Objectives
• MeasurethegeneticdiversityofnativepopulationsinLAB
andIR+RB,atspecificmarkers,tosearchforsignaturesof
hatcherylines.
• Measurecurrentabundanceanddistributionofnative
oystersthroughouttheDIBs
Spat Collectors Design
SpatCollectors
• 4locationsperbay;3spatcollectorsateachsite.
• Identifylocationswheresettlementisoccurring.
• Usewildsetspatforgeneticmicrosatelliteanalysis.
SpatCollectionResults
MicrosatelliteAnalysis• Regionsamplifiedareshort
basepairrepeats.
• Highlypolymorphicregionsare
requiredtocomparefrequency
differences.
Surveys
• RipRapusingswathmethods
toacquiredensities.
• Quantifyphysicalcharacteristics
• Goalistodeveloprepeatablemethodsformonitoring.
BaselineandLongTermData
• Longtermenvironmentaldatais
receivinglessfunding,yet
contributingmoreto
developmentofpolicyand
ecologicaltheories(Hughes
2017).
• Essentialknowledgeinordertomitigateeffectivelyto
environmentalchange.
• Requirecleargoals,robustdesign,evaluations,andrigorous
documentation.
• Worksbestwithinclusive
participationandcollaboration
bythescientificcommunity.
NextSteps
• Completesurveysandtestnewprimercandidatesforhighly
polymorphicregions.
• Get50oystersfromhatcherystrainsthathavebeenusedfor
restorationinAssawomanBay.
• Gather,combine,andinterpretwaterqualitytobeginto
addressfactorsdrivingdistributionofoysters
ImplicationsBetterinformmanagers,policy
makers,andconservationgroups
abouttheiroysternatural
resources.
Understandimpactsofhatchery
linestolocaloysterpopulation
dynamics