by Dr. Jennifer Beseres Pollack
Researchers from Harte Research Institute and Texas A&M
University-Corpus Christi have come together to form a cooperative
Oyster Research Initiative. The group will focus on better
understanding the role that oysters play in Texas bays and the
potential impacts that changing environmental conditions might have
on oyster populations.
The scientists represent a wide range of scientific
expertise, technical skills and research interests. Linking many
faculty members and research staff together is a powerful way to leverage research resources
and form a program of national significance.
Considering oysters' importance to estuaries and people, it is
surprising that they receive little attention.
Although the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, may be
most familiar as a tasty delicacy served on the half-shell, oysters
provide important services to humans before appearing on the menu.
As filter-feeders, oysters help maintain bay water quality. As
reef-builders, oysters provide habitat for fish and invertebrates,
and their structure protects shorelines from erosion. Oysters are
key species that maintain bay health and provide economic benefits
to fishermen.
Isis Dominguez and Miranda Lopez prepare an
oyster habitat experiment. Photo: J. Beseres |
Oysters can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions;
however, coastal development is putting increased pressure on
upstream resources.
Dr. Jennifer Beseres Pollack
and Dr. Paul Montagna
monitor changes in oyster biomass, abundance and sex ratios
throughout the Mission-Aransas estuary on the Texas coast. Using
these data, Dr. Hae-Cheol Kim
is |
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Sampling the oyster's gonad in the
HRI lab to determine its sex. Photo: J. Beseres |
developing a simulation model to predict impacts of changing
environmental parameters on oyster population dynamics, and
Dr. David Yoskowitz
is developing economic valuations of oyster services benefitting
humans. In a separate collaboration, Dr. Montagna’s lab is working with Dr. Joe Fox
to establish “Shell Bank,” an oyster shell recycling program to
reclaim shells from restaurants for use in restoration projects.
Oyster reefs are a valued fishery resource, but they also provide
critical habitat for numerous other shellfish and finfish species. Dr.
Greg Stunz's lab, working with Dr. Jim Simons from Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department, is characterizing nekton use of
newly-mapped subtidal oyster reefs in Matagorda Bay, Texas. They
have also compared food web structure among various subtidal
habitats in Matagorda Bay using stable isotope and gut content
analyses.
In collaboration,
Dr. Lee Smee's lab is
examining the effects of predators on shallow intertidal oyster reef
communities and exploring organism recruitment into Texas bays.
Dr. Rebekah Thomas'
lab has discovered that intertidal oysters are less likely to suffer
disease-related mortality than subtidal oysters. Her lab is in the
process of quantifying the expression of heat shock proteins as a
function of disease prevalence and proliferation.
The Oyster Research Initiative will utilize the results from these
and other ongoing projects to drive cooperative research
partnerships that address issues related to climate change, coastal
development, socio-economics, and sustainability of oyster
populations.
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