Beyond Carbon
Oyster reefs deliver greater food web services per unit area than any other estuarine habitat — including salt marsh, sea grass meadows, or tidal flats.
higher net productivity than any other habitat type found in bays and estuaries, proven experimentally.
of additional fish and large mobile crustacean production created annually by 1 m² of restored reef.
Numerous scientific studies show that oysters provide immense services and benefits that reach far beyond their incredible ability to capture and store carbon. Oysters are ecosystem engineers that build biogenic structures which propagate dense assemblages of life.
Multiple studies have found that oyster reefs deliver greater food web services per unit area than any other estuarine habitat, including salt marsh, sea grass meadows, or tidal flats. Ecologists use the term productivity as the rate at which energy is added to the bodies of a group of organisms in the form of biomass.
The net productivity of oyster reefs has been experimentally proven to be at least eight to nine times higher than any other habitat type found in bays and estuaries.
Oyster Reefs
Every one of these is delivered by the same structure that sequesters the carbon — which is why restoration pays a return no single metric can capture.
Oyster reef provides habitat for numerous fish and decapod crustacean species that mediate ecosystem functioning and support vibrant fisheries.1 In a review of six studies containing quantitative measurements of abundances of fish and crustaceans on oyster reefs in the southeast United States, Peterson et al. estimated that 1 m² of restored oyster reef habitat creates an additional 260g of fish and large mobile crustacean production annually.2
Oysters improve water quality by reducing turbidity, driving denitrification, increasing benthic algal production, and removing bacterial biomass from the water column.3,4,5
They reduce turbidity by removing suspended particles from the water column and by reducing wave energies, which decreases the suspension of particles. They remove nitrogen in several ways: storing it in their tissues and shells, where it is physically removed from the water during harvest; excreting nitrogen-containing waste that is buried in sediments; and facilitating denitrification.6
Oyster reefs increase the productivity and health of adjacent habitats like salt marshes, sea grass meadows, mud flats, and mangroves.7
Reefs attenuate wave energy, which has been shown to reduce or prevent shoreline erosion and reduce impacts from coastal storms like hurricanes.8
Oysters are a sustainable protein source for human consumption through commercial harvest from leased areas.
Oyster reefs provide opportunities for recreational oyster harvest, improved recreational fisheries, and wildlife viewing.
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