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 will share the high-level takeaways from their field sampling analyses and methods comparisons, describe their successful user engagement process, and gauge interest in further System-wide participation.

Speakers:

Matt Kimball, Baruch Marine Field Lab, University of South Carolina Matt Kimball is the Assistant Director of the Baruch Marine Field Lab at the University of South Carolina. He has conducted fieldwork on nekton use of estuarine habitats, including oyster reefs, throughout the southeastern US for the past 2 decades. Matt has led the development of using high-resolution acoustic imaging to examine nekton within estuaries. On this project, Kimball led the field sampling effort and worked with the Collaborative Lead and Technical Lead to showcase project results and promote dialogue between researchers and end users.

Robert Dunn, North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR Robert Dunn is the Research Coordinator at the North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR at the Baruch Marine Field Lab at the University of South Carolina. He is a marine community ecologist with experience working on numerous species and across varied habitats globally. Dunn has participated in or led five different NSC-funded projects since 2020. Through those projects, he gained experience with the collaborative science process; as Collaborative Lead here, he served as the liaison between the project team, NERR staff, and management end users.