Other Scholarly Content

 

Ecosystem effects of shell aggregations and cycling in coastal waters: an example of Chesapeake Bay oyster reefs Public Deposited

Analytics

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/defaults/41687p26d

This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Ecological Society of America and can be found at:  http://esa.org/.

Descriptions

Attribute NameValues
Creator
Abstract
  • Disease, overharvesting, and pollution have impaired the role of bivalves on coastal ecosystems, some to the point of functional extinction. An underappreciated function of many bivalves in these systems is shell formation. The ecological significance of bivalve shell has been recognized; geochemical effects are now more clearly being understood. A positive feedback exists between shell aggregations and healthy bivalve populations in temperate estuaries, thus linking population dynamics to shell budgets and alkalinity cycling. On oyster reefs a balanced shell budget requires healthy long-lived bivalves to maximize shell input per mortality event thereby countering shell loss. Active and dense populations of filter-feeding bivalves couple production of organic-rich waste with precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals, creating conditions favorable for alkalinity regeneration. Although the dynamics of these processes are not well described, the balance between shell burial and metabolic acid production seems the key to the extent of alkalinity production vs. carbon burial as shell. We present an estimated alkalinity budget that highlights the significant role oyster reefs once played in the Chesapeake Bay inorganic-carbon cycle. Sustainable coastal and estuarine bivalve populations require a comprehensive understanding of shell budgets and feedbacks among population dynamics, agents of shell destruction, and anthropogenic impacts on coastal carbonate chemistry.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Available
Date Issued
Citation
  • Waldbusser, G. G., Powell, E. N., & Mann, R. (2013). Ecosystem effects of shell aggregations and cycling in coastal waters: An example of chesapeake bay oyster reefs. Ecology, 94(4), 895-903. doi:10.1890/12-1179.1
Keyword
Rights Statement
Funding Statement (additional comments about funding)
  • This work was supported in part by NSF OCE number 0622999 to G. G. Waldbusser.
Publisher
Peer Reviewed
Replaces
Additional Information
  • Vol. 94 no. 4
  • description.provenance : Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-04T18:15:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WaldbusserGeorgeGCEOASEcosystemEffectsShell.pdf: 706431 bytes, checksum: db64ac216b37ec9deaf7841da601b5eb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04
  • description.provenance : Submitted by Deborah Campbell (deborah.campbell@oregonstate.edu) on 2013-06-04T18:15:34Z No. of bitstreams: 1 WaldbusserGeorgeGCEOASEcosystemEffectsShell.pdf: 706431 bytes, checksum: db64ac216b37ec9deaf7841da601b5eb (MD5)
  • Ecology

Relationships

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
Rn301637f?file=thumbnail WaldbusserGeorgeGCEOASEcosystemEffectsShell.pdf 2017-12-07 Public