Quantifying fish and mobile invertebrate production from a threatened nursery habitat

Abstract

Summary1. Quantification of ecosystem services is increasingly valuable for conservation and restoration decision-making. Structured habitats serve as nursery grounds by enhancing juvenile fish and mobile crustacean survival and abundance. This service is challenging to quantify due to ontogenetic shifts in habitat use by many species. 2. We reviewed available literature on the increased abundance of juvenile fish and mobile crustaceans in a key nursery habitat -Crassostrea virginica reefs in the USA. We modelled the growth and mortality of the enhanced species using three different natural mortality (M) estimates to provide estimates of the gross and net lifetime production and uncertainty that can be attributed to the habitat. 3. Recruitment of nineteen and twelve species were found to be enhanced by the addition of C. virginica reefs to previously unstructured habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic USA, respectively. This increased recruitment is estimated to result in a mean lifetime enhancement in production of 397 AE 115 (1 SD) g m À2 year À1 in the Gulf of Mexico and 281 AE 56 g m À2 year À1 in the South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic.4. The two regions differed with regard to the identity of the enhanced species and their degree of augmentation. Thus, our results highlight the inadequacy of applying regional estimates of ecosystem services to global scales. Furthermore, estimates of total enhancement varied by up to a factor of 2Á8 across the three methods of M estimation. 5. Our estimates are quantitative predictions of the ecological benefits derived from the restoration or conservation of a threatened habitat, and advance the field of restoration science beyond qualitative statements that just predict direction of benefit (e.g. increased or decreased). Quantification of the uncertainty in the production estimates further increases their utility for decision-makers. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our results can be applied to the restoration or conservation of nursery habitats where habitat is limiting the recruitment of fish species. Quantitative estimates of fisheries productivity enhancement by habitats can be used by managers to determine the expected return on investment in restoration activities, provide testable predictions for monitoring programs and communicate the value of restoring or conserving habitat.

Diversity and community structure of fish, plankton and benthos in Karangsong Mangrove Conservation Areas, Indramayu, West Java, Indonesia

“…Expansion of the mangrove restoration area will increase the biodiversity of the benthos as well as fish biodiversity and abundance (zu Erngassen et al 2015). A total of eight taxa of benthos were found in the study are.…”

Maximizing the benefits of oyster reef restoration for finfish and their fisheries

“…Fish employ tidal excursion currents to traverse large distances between inshore habitats (e.g., feeding areas and juvenile nursery habitats) and offshore habitats (e.g., spawning areas and adult habitats) and use other structurally complex ecosystems as stepping stones (i.e., feeding and resting areas) during these migrations (Engelhard et al., ; Nagelkerken et al., ; Figure ). By selectively restoring oyster reefs in locations to add both spatial and structural heterogeneity to coastal seascapes, restoration projects might also provide additional habitats for fish to use as stepping stones during these ontogenetic migrations (Mullaney, ; zu Ermgassen et al., ; Figure ). Hence, this also ensures connectivity which is the central mechanism for creating coherence among restored and protected environments (D'Agostini, Gherardi, & Pezzi, ; Planes, Jones, & Thorrold, ).…”

“…Oyster reefs are important sites for fish spawning (Tolley & Volety, ), attract fish larvae (Breitburg et al., ) and function as nursery areas for many fish species (Coen, Luckenbach, & Breitburg, ; Peterson et al., ; zu Ermgassen et al., ; Figure ). The extent to which oyster reefs function as nursery habitats for juvenile fishes is determined by three interrelated factors: (a) the likelihood that fish larvae settle on reefs; (b) the abundance, growth and survival, of juveniles; and (c) the level of success that juvenile fish have in migrating from oyster reefs to their adult habitats (sensu Beck et al., ).…”

“…These changes can be associated with reductions in fish diversity, biomass and abundance and with declines in the landings of recreational and commercial fishes (Coen, Giotta, Luckenbach, & Breitburg, ; Peterson, Grabowski, & Powers, ). As a consequence, the restoration of oyster reefs as fish habitats, and therefore to enhance fish and/or fisheries, is often, but not always, a key aim of oyster restoration projects (Coen & Luckenbach, ; zu Ermgassen, Grabowski, Gair, & Powers, ).…”

The value and opportunity of restoring Australia's lost rock oyster reefs

“…While the relationship between oyster reefs and fish productivity has been established abroad (i.e. North America, zu Ermgassen et al ), little research has investigated the role S. glomerata reefs play in enhancing finfish stocks.…”