Mr Rick Leong1, Dr. Ana Bugnot2,3,5, Dr. Ezequiel Marzinelli2,3,4, Prof. Alistair Poore1, Prof. Paul Gribben1,3
1University Of New South Wales, Kensington, Australia, 2University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia, 3Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Mosman, Australia, 4Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Singapore, Singapore, 5Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, St. Lucia, Australia
Temperate foundation species such as kelp and seagrasses are found across multiple spatial scales (i.e., local to biogeographic scales). However, there is limited knowledge on their distribution patterns across all the spatial scales they exist in. Understanding their distributions across multiple spatial scales can inform important spatial scales for their restoration and management purposes. In estuaries along the Australian south-eastern coast, Sydney rock oyster, Saccostrea glomerata, a reef-building, intertidal species forms reefs with different shapes, size,s and distances from one another. We utilised this spatial variation to investigate how oyster population characteristics (e.g., size and density), population processes (e.g., recruitment), and biodiversity provision by the reefs vary within-, as-, and amongst- patches and among estuaries. We found that variation at the largest scale (among estuaries) was the best predictor of oyster density and size, faunal communities, and oyster recruitment. Within estuaries, smaller scale relationships also occurred for all metrics but were in mixed directions (positive, negative, or neutral) across estuaries. This suggests that large-scale processes likely set the context to smaller scale effects on metrics recorded. We then investigated the effect of a large-scale process, i.e., sedimentation on oyster recruitment across six estuaries and found that oyster recruitment was negatively correlated to sedimentation loads amongst the estuaries, reaffirming the association of large-scale processes with population characteristics and ecosystem functions, especially the recruitment of the target species. Our study, suggests prioritising important spatial scales in future restoration strategies to promote long-term oyster reef sustainability and enhance restoration success and the services they provide.
Presentation Slides – Rick Leong
Biography:
Rick Leong is a final-year PhD candidate at UNSW School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences focuses on understanding spatial-ecological relationships on temperate, remnant Sydney rock oyster reefs in New South Wales.
