Overcoming Ostrea edulis seed production limitations to meet ecosystem restoration demands in the UN decade on restoration

The European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis, is a habitat-forming bivalve which was historically widespread throughout Europe. Following its decline due to overfishing, pollution, sedimentation, invasive species, and disease, O. edulis and its beds are now listed as a threatened and/or declining species and habitat by OSPAR. Increasing recognition of the plight of the oyster, alongside rapidly developing restoration techniques and growing interest in marine restoration, has resulted in a recent and rapid growth in habitat restoration efforts. O. edulis seed supply is currently a major bottleneck in scaling up habitat restoration efforts in Europe. O. edulis has been cultured for centuries, however, research into its culture declined following the introduction of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas to Europe in the early 1970 s. Recent efforts to renew both hatchery and pond production of O. edulis seed for habitat restoration purposes are hampered by restoration project timelines and funding typically being short, or projects not planning appropriately for the timescales required for investment, research-and-development and delivery of oyster seed by commercial producers. Furthermore, funding for restoration is intermittent, making long-term commitments between producers and restoration practitioners difficult. Long-term, strategic investment in research and production are needed to overcome these bottlenecks and meet current ambitious restoration targets across Europe

Bennison et al tracking data for Atlantic puffins and razorbills

This tracking dataset was collected from the Saltee Islands over three years, razorbills tracked in 2014 and puffins tracked in 2017 and 2018. As well as GPS data, time depth recorder (TDR) data are also supplied for two puffin deployments. 2018 puffin tracking data contains dives appended to GPS information. Tracks and TDR data are supplied as with easy to read sensible headers CSVs

Using citizen science to improve the conservation of the European Eel (Anguilla anguilla) in the Thames River Basin District

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is Critically Endangered under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria because it has markedly declined in abundance across all life-history stages in much of its natural range. Barriers to migration, such as weirs and sluices, that prevent access to upstream habitat are a key threat to eels in freshwater systems. The impact of these barriers can be partially mitigated by the installation of eel passes that restore migratory pathways. In the Thames River Basin District (Thames RBD), The Zoological Society of London and partners have added traps to monitor eel passes. Further, these organizations have developed a network of citizen scientists and stakeholder organizations that monitor eel movement through the passes. In this paper, we review how data from the Thames European Eel Project enables a better understanding of eel ecology in the Thames RBD and how these data can inform conservation management decisions. In addition, we ask whether stakeholder engagement via citizen science has informed effective conservation action for this species

European Native Oyster Habitat Restoration Monitoring Handbook

In this, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, it is recognised that restoring the function and productivity of our planets ecosystems is critical and must be scaled up as quickly as possible. Oyster reefs and beds have historically been a critical ecosystem in the world’s bays, estuaries and shallow seas. The filter feeding of oysters collects the material and nutrients suspended in the water and makes them available to fuel the biodiversity these habitats are known for, provide fish for our fisheries, and mitigate the nutrient pollution that creates marine dead zones. The structure provided by oyster habitats also helps stabilise sediments, moderate wave energy and support a vast number of reef associated species. Despite their importance, oyster reefs and beds are also the world’s most impacted marine ecosystem; native oysters and the habitat they create have been virtually destroyed in most regions of the world. The valuable benefits provided by oyster habitats have driven a huge interest in their restoration. In a young and rapidly growing field such as oyster habitat restoration it is critical that the restoration community can compare techniques and assess both success and failures to progress and scale the work. This requires monitoring and gathering data that are sufficiently similar to allow comparison. However, no two sites are identical, and local conditions demand constant adaptation. It is both challenging and critical to describe monitoring protocols and metrics that provide the flexibility to accommodate the vastly different conditions faced by restoration projects, from the intertidal zones of estuaries to the deep, high energy areas of the North Sea. This manual builds on earlier work and provides valuable guidelines tailored to the European context. We look forward to these guidelines being applied to help scale the critical work of restoring the oyster reefs of Europe.Dans le cadre de la Décennie des Nations unies pour la restauration des écosystèmes, il est reconnu que la restauration de la fonction et de la productivité des écosystèmes de notre planète est essentielle et doit être intensifiée le plus rapidement possible. Les récifs et les bancs d'huîtres ont toujours été un écosystème essentiel dans les baies, les estuaires et les mers peu profondes du monde. L'alimentation par filtration des huîtres permet de collecter les matières et les nutriments en suspension dans l'eau et de les rendre disponibles pour alimenter la biodiversité qui fait la réputation de ces habitats, fournir des poissons à nos pêcheries et atténuer la pollution par les nutriments qui crée des zones mortes marines. La structure fournie par les récifs huîtiers permet également de stabiliser les sédiments, de modérer l'énergie des vagues et d'accueillir un grand nombre d'espèces associées aux récifs. Malgré leur importance, les récifs et les bancs d'huîtres sont également l'écosystème marin le plus touché au monde ; les huîtres indigènes et l'habitat qu'elles créent ont été pratiquement détruits dans la plupart des régions du monde. Les avantages précieux fournis par les habitats des huîtres ont suscité un énorme intérêt pour leur restauration. Dans un domaine jeune et en pleine expansion que constitue la restauration des récifs d'huîtres, il est essentiel que la communauté de la restauration puisse comparer les techniques et évaluer les succès et les échecs afin de progresser et d'étendre le travail. Pour cela, il faut surveiller et recueillir des données suffisamment similaires pour permettre la comparaison. Cependant, il n'existe pas deux sites identiques, et les conditions locales exigent une adaptation constante. Il est à la fois difficile et essentiel de décrire des protocoles de suivi et des mesures qui offrent la flexibilité nécessaire pour s'adapter aux conditions très différentes auxquelles sont confrontés les projets de restauration, des zones intertidales des estuaires aux zones profondes à haute énergie de la mer du Nord. Ce manuel s'appuie sur des travaux antérieurs et fournit des directives précieuses adaptées au contexte européen. Nous attendons avec impatience que ces directives soient appliquées afin de contribuer au travail critique de restauration des récifs d'huîtres en Europe

Can Bivalve Habitat Restoration Improve Degraded Estuaries?

Bivalve habitats were once a dominant ecosystem in temperate and subtropical estuaries worldwide. While bivalve habitats are greatly reduced from their former abundance, remnant, and restored populations have been shown to provide a suite of important ecosystems services including improving water quality, coastal protection, and providing fisheries nursery habitat, in addition to providing a direct food value. Although it is unlikely that bivalve habitats can be brought back to their former abundance in most locations, bivalve restoration has been shown to be possible at large scale if the drivers of decline have been addressed. Restoring bivalve habitats can improve the health of estuaries, but restoration activities need to be supplemented with improved management practices, including in the surrounding catchments. Taking an estuary-wide approach to restoration, with bivalve habitat restoration complementing the restoration of other habitat types such as seagrasses, salt marshes, and mangroves is likely to yield both greater ecosystem benefits and may result in positive feedbacks resulting in greater restoration success of complimentary habitats. Motivation for bivalve and other coastal habitat restoration has moved beyond simply restoring an imperiled ecosystem and its biodiversity, to restoring food security, local employment, green engineering, shoreline protection, and nutrient trading. In the future it is likely that innovative engineering solutions will improve the success and value of bivalve habitat restoration. In addition to restoring natural bivalve habitats and the benefits that they bring to estuaries and the people who depend on them, novel solutions to improving estuary health and food security should be considered. There are likely to be benefits from using bivalve aquaculture as a tool for ecosystem modification (e.g., harnessing the filtering power of bivalves at high densities to improve local water quality) and creating green engineering solutions that include living elements such as bivalves to protect shorelines. © 2019 Copyrigh

Site selection for European native oyster (Ostrea edulis) habitat restoration projects: An expert‐derived consensus

1. The European native oyster (Ostrea edulis) is a threatened keystone species which historically created extensive, physically complex, biogenic habitats throughout European seas. 2. Overfishing and direct habitat destruction, subsequently compounded by pollution, invasive species, disease, predation and climate change have resulted in the functional extinction of native oyster habitat across much of its former range. 3. Although oyster reef habitat remains imperilled, active restoration efforts are rapidly gaining momentum. Identifying appropriate sites for habitat restoration is an essential first step in long-term project success. 4. In this study, a three-round Delphi process was conducted to determine the most important factors to consider in site selection for European native oyster habitat restoration projects. 5. Consensus was reached on a total of 65 factors as being important to consider in site selection for European native oyster habitat restoration projects. In addition to the abiotic factors typically included in habitat suitability models, socio-economic and logistical factors were found to be important. Determining the temporal and spatial variability of threats to native oyster habitat restoration and understanding the biotic factors present at a proposed restoration site also influence the potential for project scale-up and longevity. 6. This list guides site selection by identifying: a shortlist of measurable factors which should be considered; the relevant data to collect; topics for discussion in participatory mapping processes; information of interest from the existing body of local ecological knowledge; and factors underpinning supportive and facilitating regulatory frameworks