Project Page

DWH Project Funding

$344,784

Known Leveraged Funding

$0

Project Description

These project components directly address a number of the research areas identified in the MBRACE Science Plan as foci necessary to address current scientific knowledge gaps including: identification of suitable benthic habitats for reef restoration, impact of hydrodynamic and sediment transport processes on oyster population dynamics, and impact of multiple stressors on oyster reef habitat quality, quantity and sustainability. Through integration of these four science driven, stand-alone components, and collaboration with the other MBRACE project teams, significant advances in holistic oyster reef management will be attained. Oyster Recruitment Variability: Four neighboring pairs of restored vs. control areas (8 sites total) within MS Sound will be selected in coordination with, and to compliment, the project components of our MBRACE partners. Pairs of spat settlement plates will be deployed in a manner that excludes predation from one member of each pair. Both wild and cultured spat treatments, each consisting of 4 pairs of plates will be assessed. Benthic Mapping of Oyster Reefs: Detailed acoustic maps of the selected reefs would be obtained and analysis of the sub- bottom structure, surface relief, rugosity, and angular response of the backscatter would be assessed to determine reef viability. Routine seasonal and event-keyed surveys throughout the two year project would contribute to time series measurements of other observations in assessing the vitality of the reefs and the drivers affecting that viability. Mississippi Sound Circulation over Oyster Reefs from CODAR Array: USM 25 MHz CODAR stations would be deployed at the Silver Slipper Casino and Pass Christian Yacht Club to cover the oyster growing area in the western Mississippi Sound. The surface current data, along with the USGS/MDMR real-time water quality stations, provide important ground truth for the COAWST model. Numerical Modeling of Circulation, Water Quality, and Oyster Larvae Transport/Recruitment: Multi-scale ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport modeling system and a water quality and ecological productivity assessment model shall be coupled to investigate the impacts of multiple environmental stressors (e.g. eutrophication, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, etc.) and hydrodynamic processes (e.g. cross- and along- shore transport mechanisms, freshwater discharges), specifically as these relate to larval transport and settlement paradigms between regional oyster seed grounds and harvestable reefs.