Dataset Information

Restoring oysters to urban estuaries: Redefining habitat quality for eastern oyster performance near New York City.

ABSTRACT: Restoring and conserving coastal resilience faces increasing challenges under current climate change predictions. Oyster restoration, in particular, faces threats from alterations in precipitation, warming water temperatures, and urbanization of coastlines that dramatically change salinity patterns, foster the proliferation and spread disease, and disrupt habitat connectivity, respectively. New York City (NYC) coastal waters, once home to a booming oyster fishery for eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica), are now nearly devoid of live oyster reefs. Oyster restoration in urban estuaries is motivated by the synergistic ecosystem benefits this native keystone species can deliver. Recent surveys have documented substantial remnant populations of adult oysters in the upper low salinity zone of the Hudson/Raritan Estuary (HRE) near Tarrytown, NY. This study assessed fitness-related performance across the HRE salinity gradient to evaluate habitat suitability on an estuarine scale. Oysters were hatchery-produced from wild, moderate-salinity broodstock, then outplanted for measurement of growth, survival, reproduction and disease prevalence over two years. Survival was generally higher in the lower salinity river sites and in the higher salinity Jamaica Bay sites relative to mesohaline NYC harbor sites. Growth rate was highest in Jamaica Bay and had high variation among other sites. Surprisingly, the highest proportion of individuals with sex-differentiated gametes and the highest average gonad maturation index was found at a low salinity site. Consistent with the advanced gametogenesis measured in experimental animals at low salinity, annual wild recruitment was documented near the low salinity remnant population in each of five monitored years. These results suggest that the remnant HRE oyster population is a robust, self-sustaining population that can be leveraged to support restoration of subpopulations in other parts of the estuary, but further research is required to determine if the mesohaline and near-ocean reaches of the HRE can support the full oyster life cycle.

SUBMITTER: McFarland K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6239315 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Restoring oysters to urban estuaries: Redefining habitat quality for eastern oyster performance near New York City.

McFarland Katherine K Hare Matthew P MP

PloS one 20181116 11

Restoring and conserving coastal resilience faces increasing challenges under current climate change predictions. Oyster restoration, in particular, faces threats from alterations in precipitation, warming water temperatures, and urbanization of coastlines that dramatically change salinity patterns, foster the proliferation and spread disease, and disrupt habitat connectivity, respectively. New York City (NYC) coastal waters, once home to a booming oyster fishery for eastern oysters (Crassostrea ...[more]

PMID: 30444890

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Project description:Vibrio spp. have been a persistent concern for coastal bivalve hatcheries, which are vulnerable to environmental pathogens in the seawater used for rearing larvae, yet the biogeochemical drivers of oyster-pathogenic Vibrio spp. in their planktonic state are poorly understood. Here, we present data tracking oyster-pathogenic Vibrio bacteria in Netarts Bay and Yaquina Bay in Oregon, USA, as well as in adjacent coastal waters and a local shellfish hatchery, through the 2015 upwelling season. Vibrio populations were quantified using a culture-independent approach of high-throughput Vibrio-specific 16S rRNA gene sequencing paired with droplet digital PCR, and abundances were analyzed in the context of local biogeochemistry. The most abundant putative pathogen in our samples was Vibrio coralliilyticus Environmental concentrations of total Vibrio spp. and V. coralliilyticus were highest in Netarts Bay sediment samples and higher in seawater from Netarts Bay than from nearshore coastal waters or Yaquina Bay. In Netarts Bay, the highest V. coralliilyticus concentrations were observed during low tide, and abundances increased throughout the summer. We hypothesize that the warm shallow waters in estuarine mudflats facilitate the local growth of the V. coralliilyticus pathogen. Samples from larval oyster tanks in Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, which uses seawater pumped directly from Netarts Bay, contained significantly lower total Vibrio species concentrations, but roughly similar V. coralliilyticus concentrations, than did the bay water, resulting in a 30-fold increase in the relative abundance of the V. coralliilyticus pathogen in hatchery tanks. This suggests that the V. coralliilyticus pathogen is able to grow or persist under hatchery conditions.IMPORTANCE It has been argued that oyster-pathogenic Vibrio spp. have contributed to recent mortality events in U.S. shellfish hatcheries (R. A. Elston, H. Hasegawa, K. L. Humphrey, I. K. Polyak, and C. Häse, Dis Aquat Organ 82:119-134, 2008, https://doi.org/10.3354/dao01982); however, these events are often sporadic and unpredictable. The success of hatcheries is critically linked to the chemical and biological composition of inflowing seawater resources; thus, it is pertinent to understand the biogeochemical drivers of oyster-pathogenic Vibrio spp. in their planktonic state. Here, we show that Netarts Bay, the location of a local hatchery, is enriched in oyster-pathogenic V. coralliilyticus compared to coastal seawater, and we hypothesize that conditions in tidal flats promote the local growth of this pathogen. Furthermore, V. coralliilyticus appears to persist in seawater pumped into the local hatchery. These results improve our understanding of the ecology and environmental controls of the V. coralliilyticus pathogen and could be used to improve future aquaculture efforts, as multiple stressors impact hatchery success.

Project description:Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus are naturally occurring estuarine bacteria and are the leading causes of seafood-associated infections and mortality in the United States. Though multiple-antibiotic-resistant V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus strains have been reported, resistance patterns in vibrios are not as well documented as those of other foodborne bacterial pathogens. Salinity relaying (SR) is a postharvest processing (PHP) treatment to reduce the abundances of these pathogens in shellfish harvested during the warmer months. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility (AMS), pathogenicity, and genetic profiles of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus recovered from oysters during an oyster relay study. Isolates (V. parahaemolyticus [n = 296] and V. vulnificus [n = 94]) were recovered from oysters before and during the 21-day relaying study to detect virulence genes (tdh and trh) and genes correlated with virulence (vcgC) using multiplex quantitative PCR (qPCR). AMS to 20 different antibiotics was investigated using microbroth dilution, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to study the genetic profiles of the isolates. Twenty percent of V. vulnificus isolates were vcgC+, while 1 and 2% of V. parahaemolyticus were tdh+ and trh+, respectively. More than 77% of the V. vulnificus isolates and 30% of the V. parahaemolyticus isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial. Forty-eight percent of V. vulnificus and 8% of V. parahaemolyticus isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobials. All isolates demonstrated a high genetic diversity, even among those isolated from the same site and having a similar AMS profile. No significant effects of the relaying process on AMS, virulence genes, or PFGE profiles of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus were observed.IMPORTANCE Analysis of the antibiotic resistance profiles of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus isolated from oysters during this study indicated that more than 48% of V. vulnificus isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobials, including those recommended by the CDC for treating Vibrio infections. Also, the V. parahaemolyticus isolates showed high MICs for some of the Vibrio infection treatment antibiotics. Monitoring of AMS profiles of this bacterium is important to ensure optimal treatment of infections and improve food safety. Our study showed no significant differences in the AMS profiles of V. vulnificus (P = 0.26) and V. parahaemolyticus (P = 0.23) isolated from the oysters collected before versus after relaying. This suggests that the salinity of the relaying sites did not affect the AMS profiles of the Vibrio isolates, although it did reduce the numbers of these bacteria in oysters (S. Parveen et al., J Food Sci 82:484-491, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.13584).

Dataset Information

Restoring oysters to urban estuaries: Redefining habitat quality for eastern oyster performance near New York City.

Publications

Restoring oysters to urban estuaries: Redefining habitat quality for eastern oyster performance near New York City.

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