Understanding the life cycle and the demography of individual species is critical for the management of threatened populations and integral to understanding the ecology of various ecosystems and habitats (Kimirei et al., 2015; Perez & Munch, 2010). This knowledge is particularly critical for fish species, as the maintenance of populations and biodiverse assemblages is heavily influenced by larval supply, post-settlement processes, and demographic processes such as recruitment (Caley et al., 1996). The successful recruitment of a juvenile fish into the adult population is strongly determined by individual size, particularly in marine environments, where selection pressures favoring larger individuals are approximately five times the strength of the same pressure on terrestrial taxa (Perez & Munch, 2010). As such, habitats that provide the necessary resources to support high rates of juvenile growth are important for the survival of juveniles and their recruitment into the wider population (Lefcheck et al., 2019; Perez & Munch, 2010). Marine habitats that are able to support this can have a greater density and abundance of juvenile species (e.g., seagrass meadows, kelp forests, mangroves) and are termed “nursery habitats” (Lefcheck et al., 2019). Achoerodus viridis (Eastern Blue Groper) is an iconic fish species in eastern Australia, and particularly in the state of New South Wales (NSW) where it is the state marine emblem due to its popularity and social importance. This species is listed as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to the loss of key habitat and historical overfishing, and is a protected species in the states of NSW and Victoria (Choat & Pollard, 2010). They belong to the Labridae family of fish and are a long-lived hermaphroditic species, which start out as female juveniles with an initial-phase color of pinky brown (Figure 1a), growing to Received: 7 April 2022 Revised: 9 June 2022 Accepted: 22 June 2022

Observation of juvenile Eastern Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) on remnant oyster reefs in New South Wales, Australia

How Denmark’s oysters are transforming foodies into citizen scientists

Over 85 % of oyster reefs have been lost globally due to disease, overharvesting, global warming, and pollution. Consideration of the ecosystem services provided by healthy oyster reefs (e.g., coastal protection, water purification and carbon burial) has driven recent research and restoration efforts worldwide. However, hydrodynamic studies, specifically looking at the effects of different levels of wave exposure on the ecomorphodynamics of oyster reefs, are scarce. In this study, we consider oyster reefs in microtidal estuaries under different levels of relative wave exposure to determine how hydrodynamics may shape reef morphology and how reef morphology affects wave dissipation. We quantify oyster reef morphology through spatial analysis, using morphometrics and spatial density and relate these to the ability of oyster reefs to dissipate wave energy. Field campaigns were undertaken at three microtidal sites in southeast Australia with different hydrodynamic exposure and morphology: Gamay (Botany Bay), Port Hacking and Crookhaven River. We found that reef morphology and orientation is related to estuarine hydrodynamic conditions and thus we propose an ecomorphodynamic model with a continuum of morphologies from sparse reefs aligned perpendicular to the tidal currents and incoming waves (patch reefs), through broken up barriers semi-aligned or obliquely to the tidal flows (string reefs), to the total barrier that exists under the lowest hydrodynamic conditions (fringing reefs). The highest dissipative ability of locally generated wind waves occurred at Crookhaven (patch reef, 165 kW/m2), and lowest at Gamay (string reef, 11.66 kW/m2). Our results suggest that reef morphology, and orientation to currents and waves, influence wave dissipation, and that hydrodynamic conditions in turn influence reef morphology. These findings are important to inform future reef restoration under increasingly severe climate change conditions to optimise ecosystem services on restored oyster reefs. 

Ecomorphodynamics of oyster reefs and their influence on oyster reef morphology

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Ecomorphodynamics of oyster reefs and their influence on oyster reef morphology

Observation of juvenile Eastern Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis) on remnant oyster reefs in New South Wales, Australia