Using eDNA to assess impacts of oyster restoration on ecosystem biodiversity at a heavily impacted coastal lagoon
Presenter Major
Earth and Environmental Studies
Presentation Type
Poster
Location
Hays Theatre, Wilbur Arts Building
Start Date
26-4-2024 10:45 AM
End Date
26-4-2024 11:30 AM
Description (Abstract)
The Great South Bay (GSB), a bar-built, temperate, coastal lagoon on the south shore of Long Island, New York, USA, is a highly modified estuary due to heavy urbanization and suburbanization in the last century. GSB historically provided up to 50% of the nation’s hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) harvest, and is the legal home of the “Blue Point” oyster (eastern oyster; Crassostrea virginica). However, due to overexploitation as well as persistent stress from ongoing nitrogen pollution and harmful algal blooms, shellfish populations are fractions of their original abundances. Restoration efforts in GSB, driven both by community efforts and local authorities, focus on bringing back the eastern oyster with the goal that these filter feeders will improve water quality, build reef habitat, provide protection from storm surge, and thus positively impact greater ecosystem stability. In summer 2023, we collected samples from 15 stations to isolate environmental DNA (eDNA) and implement next-generation sequencing to determine how new oyster reef habitat impacts community biodiversity. This is the first year of an ongoing project that will determine the impacts of oyster restoration on resiliency at different sites in the GSB, as determined from eDNA-based biodiversity estimates.
Keywords
Oysters, Biodiversity, eDNA, Restoration, Water Quality
Related Pillar(s)
Community, Service, Study
Using eDNA to assess impacts of oyster restoration on ecosystem biodiversity at a heavily impacted coastal lagoon
Hays Theatre, Wilbur Arts Building
The Great South Bay (GSB), a bar-built, temperate, coastal lagoon on the south shore of Long Island, New York, USA, is a highly modified estuary due to heavy urbanization and suburbanization in the last century. GSB historically provided up to 50% of the nation’s hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) harvest, and is the legal home of the “Blue Point” oyster (eastern oyster; Crassostrea virginica). However, due to overexploitation as well as persistent stress from ongoing nitrogen pollution and harmful algal blooms, shellfish populations are fractions of their original abundances. Restoration efforts in GSB, driven both by community efforts and local authorities, focus on bringing back the eastern oyster with the goal that these filter feeders will improve water quality, build reef habitat, provide protection from storm surge, and thus positively impact greater ecosystem stability. In summer 2023, we collected samples from 15 stations to isolate environmental DNA (eDNA) and implement next-generation sequencing to determine how new oyster reef habitat impacts community biodiversity. This is the first year of an ongoing project that will determine the impacts of oyster restoration on resiliency at different sites in the GSB, as determined from eDNA-based biodiversity estimates.
