![]() Nearshore ecosystem services include disturbance resistance, nutrient cycling, habitat, food production, and recreation. Estuarine and vegetated nearshore habitats comprise only 0.7% of global biomes, yet the value of their ecosystem services has been estimated at $7.9 trillion dollars annually, or 23.7% of total global ecosystem services. Nearshore, biogenic habitats of estuaries support a broad spectrum of marine life and serve as nursery grounds for economically-important fishes and shellfish –. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. ![]() This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.įunding: Funding for this project was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office of Habitat Restoration through the University of South Alabama's Oyster Restoration Program and the Northern Gulf Institute. Received: FebruAccepted: JPublished: August 5, 2011Ĭopyright: © 2011 Scyphers et al. PLoS ONE 6(8):Įditor: Howard Browman, Institute of Marine Research, Norway Although the vertical relief of the breakwater reefs was reduced over the course of our study and this compromised the shoreline protection capacity, the observed habitat value demonstrates ecological justification for future, more robust shoreline protection projects.Ĭitation: Scyphers SB, Powers SP, Heck KL Jr, Byron D (2011) Oyster Reefs as Natural Breakwaters Mitigate Shoreline Loss and Facilitate Fisheries. Blue crabs ( Callinectes sapidus) were the most clearly enhanced (+297%) by the presence of breakwater reefs, while red drum ( Sciaenops ocellatus) (+108%), spotted seatrout ( Cynoscion nebulosus) (+88%) and flounder ( Paralichthys sp.) (+79%) also benefited. Among the fishes and mobile invertebrates that appeared to be strongly enhanced were several economically-important species. We found the corridor between intertidal marsh and oyster reef breakwaters supported higher abundances and different communities of fishes than control plots without oyster reef habitat. Oyster settlement and subsequent survival were observed at both sites, with mean adult densities reaching more than eighty oysters m −2 at one site. Breakwater reef treatments mitigated shoreline retreat by more than 40% at one site, but overall vegetation retreat and erosion rates were high across all treatments and at both sites. ![]() At both sites we measured shoreline and bathymetric change and quantified oyster recruitment, fish and mobile macro-invertebrate abundances. ![]() Along two different stretches of eroding shoreline, we created replicated pairs of subtidal breakwater reefs and established unaltered reference areas as controls. Our study experimentally tested the efficacy of breakwater reefs constructed of oyster shell for protecting eroding coastal shorelines and their effect on nearshore fish and shellfish communities. Recently, efforts have shifted towards “living shoreline” approaches that include biogenic breakwater reefs. Previous efforts to protect shorelines have largely involved constructing bulkheads and seawalls which can detrimentally affect nearshore habitats. ![]() Shorelines at the interface of marine, estuarine and terrestrial biomes are among the most degraded and threatened habitats in the coastal zone because of their sensitivity to sea level rise, storms and increased human utilization. ![]()
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