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Decadal Scale Changes In Seasonal Patterns Of Oyster Recruitment In The Virginia Sub Estuaries Of The Chesapeake Bay, Melissa Southworth, Roger L. Mann
Decadal Scale Changes In Seasonal Patterns Of Oyster Recruitment In The Virginia Sub Estuaries Of The Chesapeake Bay, Melissa Southworth, Roger L. Mann
VIMS Articles
Reproductive periodicity of sessile estuarine invertebrates reflects local seasonality of environmental (temperature, salinity) and biologic (food) parameters. Estuaries are ephemeral features in geologic time but considered somewhat constant in the course of recent human history (decadal time scales). Analyses of long-term trends in eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) settlement periodicity since 1960 in three major Chesapeake Bay rivers (James, Piankatank and Great Wicomico Rivers) of the Chesapeake Bay show marked changes within the 4-decade time frame. The 50th percentile of cumulative recruitment occurs between day 194 and 250 of the year depending on year and location. Significant coherence in interannual variation …