Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Oyster Reefs

Grabowski, Jonathan H.; Brumbaugh, R. Dan; Conrad, Robert F.; Keeler, Andrew G.; Opaluch, James J.; Peterson, Charles H.; Piehler, Michael F.; Powers, Sean P.; Smyth, Ashley R.

doi:10.1525/bio.2012.62.10.10

Cited by 473 publications

(360 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…9), including seagrasses, corals, and oysters (2,6,10). The loss of these species often leads to a direct reduction in ecosystem services critical to human well-being (11)(12)(13), and the local demise of taxa that provide those services (14,15). The brown algae known as kelps (Order Laminariales) are globally important foundation species that occupy 43% of the world's marine ecoregions (defined in ref.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Global patterns of kelp forest change over the past half-century

Krumhansl

Okamoto

Rassweiler

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

578

524

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Kelp forests (Order Laminariales) form key biogenic habitats in coastal regions of temperate and Arctic seas worldwide, providing ecosystem services valued in the range of billions of dollars annually. Although local evidence suggests that kelp forests are increasingly threatened by a variety of stressors, no comprehensive global analysis of change in kelp abundances currently exists.Here, we build and analyze a global database of kelp time series spanning the past half-century to assess regional and global trends in kelp abundances. We detected a high degree of geographic variation in trends, with regional variability in the direction and magnitude of change far exceeding a small global average decline (instantaneous rate of change = −0.018 y −1 ). Our analysis identified declines in 38% of ecoregions for which there are data (−0.015 to −0.18 y −1 ), increases in 27% of ecoregions (0.015 to 0.11 y −1 ), and no detectable change in 35% of ecoregions. These spatially variable trajectories reflected regional differences in the drivers of change, uncertainty in some regions owing to poor spatial and temporal data coverage, and the dynamic nature of kelp populations. We conclude that although global drivers could be affecting kelp forests at multiple scales, local stressors and regional variation in the effects of these drivers dominate kelp dynamics, in contrast to many other marine and terrestrial foundation species. A ssessing ecosystem change on a global scale has been instrumental in highlighting the magnitude of human impacts on natural ecosystems. For example, awareness of global declines in fish populations (1), coral reefs (2), and tropical rainforests (3) has substantially increased public interest and subsequent political motivation for environmental conservation. In some cases, global assessments have highlighted complex patterns of change (4, 5), which often reflect variable trajectories among regions (4). SignificanceKelp forests support diverse and productive ecological communities throughout temperate and arctic regions worldwide, providing numerous ecosystem services to humans. Literature suggests that kelp forests are increasingly threatened by a variety of human impacts, including climate change, overfishing, and direct harvest. We provide the first globally comprehensive analysis of kelp forest change over the past 50 y, identifying a high degree of variation in the magnitude and direction of change across the geographic range of kelps. These results suggest region-specific responses to global change, with local drivers playing an important role in driving patterns of kelp abundance. Increased monitoring aimed at understanding regional kelp forest dynamics is likely to prove most effective for the adaptive management of these important ecosystems.

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Global patterns of kelp forest change over the past half-century

Krumhansl

Okamoto

Rassweiler

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

578

524

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Hence, changes in the abundance of oysters or the areal extent of oyster reef can have substantial ecological consequences. The suspension-feeding activity of oysters enhances benthic pelagic coupling and removes particulates from the water column, potentially increasing water clarity (see Coen et al 2007 andGrabowski et al 2012 for a complete list of ecological services). Reefs formed by the gregarious settlement of oysters provide ecological services including provision of habitat for fish and mobile invertebrates , enhanced biogeochemical cycling (Piehler & Smyth 2011), and shoreline stabilization (Scyphers et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of large-scale salinity alteration during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on subtidal oyster populations

Powers¹,

Grabowski²,

Roman³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Response actions associated with oil spills often have significant impacts on ecological communities. During the 87 d long Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the State of Louisiana (USA) released vast quantities of Mississippi River water into 2 estuarine basins (Barataria Bay and Black Bay/Breton Sound) in response to the approach of oil. We assessed the impact on subtidal oyster populations of this novel oil spill response action using 3 independent methods: (1) comparison of fisheries-independent post-spill densities to a pre-spill temporal baseline; (2) comparison of oyster density collected during natural resource damage assessment sampling between the area of maximal freshwater impact and reference areas in the 2 basins; and (3) estimation from a doseresponse model derived from an analysis of an in situ mark and recapture study conducted in 2010 to assess the relationship between salinity and oyster mortality. A substantial portion of both basins (483 km 2 of Barataria Bay and 362 km 2 of Black Bay/Breton Sound) experienced prolonged periods of very low (< 5 ppt) salinity in 2010 that lasted at least 1 mo longer than the average duration of low salinity between 2006 and 2009. The 3 approaches all indicate that dramatic losses occurred in the number of market-sized (> 75 mm) oysters as a result of a system-wide lowering of salinities, with an estimated 1.16 to 3.29 billion market-equivalent oysters lost. The efficacy of the large-scale response action of altering hydrographic conditions during the summer oyster growth period should be examined in light of the major perturbation to oyster communities.KEY WORDS: Estuary · Oil spill response · Natural resources damage assessment · Oyster reefs · Gulf of Mexico · Crassostrea virginica · Hydrography OPEN PEN ACCESS CCESS Contribution to the Theme Section 'Response of nearshore ecosystems to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill'Mar Ecol Prog Ser 576: [175][176][177][178][179][180][181][182][183][184][185][186][187] 2017 Too much freshwater reduces local salinity to levels where survivorship, growth, or reproduction of oysters is impaired, whereas too much ocean water generally elevates salinities and is associated with higher levels of predators (e.g. the oyster drill Stramonita haemastoma) or disease (e.g. the protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus) that leads to reduced survivorship (e.g. Gunter 1955, Davis 1958, 1979, Chatry et al. 1983, Brown & Richardson 1988, Soniat & Brody 1988, Fodrie et al. 2008, La Peyre et al. 2009. Although the specific thresholds of these triggers varied from study to study, the general pattern of oysters thriving in waters whose average annual salinities fall be tween 8 and 22 ppt with frequent brief pulses of freshwater input is well established and accepted by oyster biologists. Because settlement of oysters is gregarious on existing oyster shells, sustainable populations of oysters require that the position of this green zone of water stays relatively fixed over time. A substantial perturbation of this salinity zone away from are...

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“…Extensive literature now exists on the ecological benefits of oyster reefs (see Coen et al 2007, Grabowski et al 2012 for recent reviews) and supports that the loss of habitat can have effects on nutrient cycling (Piehler & Smyth 2011, Beseres Pollack et al 2013, Kellogg et al 2013), fish and invertebrate production (Peterson et al 2003), water clarity (Ne well & Koch 2004, Grizzle et al 2008, and shoreline stabilization (Scyphers et al 2011). Collectively, the annual economic value of these services (excluding oyster harvest) was recently estimated to total US $5500−99 000 ha −1 (Grabowski et al 2012). We were able to test the potential for one of these ecosystem services, viz.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem services are lost when facilitation between two ecosystem engineers is compromised by oil

Powers¹,

Rouhani²,

Baker³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Nearshore marine ecosystems are among the most productive areas in the world. Unfortunately, these areas also receive pollutants released into oceanic and riverine waters. Six years following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest in US history, the complexity of ecological injuries in this system is just now being elucidated. Here, we describe a novel pathway of injury from oil spills by documenting how the loss of oysters near marsh edge as a direct result of shoreline oiling and clean-up activities can double rates of coastal erosion. As part of the natural resource damage assessment, we examined the impact of shoreline oiling on eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica near the marsh edge at 187 sites in Louisiana and Mississippi Sound in 2013. For marshes that experienced heavy oiling, oyster habitat was 77% less abundant than in areas where no oil was observed. Areas near marshes characterized by more moderate levels of oiling had 33% less oyster habitat than areas where no oil was observed. Similarly, the number of sites without any oyster habitat was higher in heavily and persistently oiled areas compared to areas where no oil was observed (56 vs. 24%). The consequences of this loss are substantial and include loss of essential fish habitat, reduced nutrient cycling, and decreased erosion buffering. For a subset of the sites where erosion rate was also measured between 2010 and 2013 (n = 79), shoreline loss was more than twice as high (2.1 vs. 0.9 m yr −1 ) in areas lacking oyster cover. Our findings provide evidence that loss of nearshore oyster habitat can disrupt the strong facilitation between oysters and marsh vegetation.

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Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Oyster Reefs

Cited by 473 publications

References 39 publications

Global patterns of kelp forest change over the past half-century

Global patterns of kelp forest change over the past half-century

Consequences of large-scale salinity alteration during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on subtidal oyster populations

Ecosystem services are lost when facilitation between two ecosystem engineers is compromised by oil

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