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Crassostrea virginica · Reef height · Sedimentation · Thresholds · Alternative stable states · Oyster reef · Restoration
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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Reef Height Drives Threshold Dynamics Of Restored Oyster Reefs, Allison M. Colden, Robert J. Latour, Rom Lipcius
Reef Height Drives Threshold Dynamics Of Restored Oyster Reefs, Allison M. Colden, Robert J. Latour, Rom Lipcius
VIMS Articles
Nonlinear threshold responses to biotic or abiotic forcing may produce multiple population trajectories dependent upon initial conditions, which can reinforce population recovery or drive local ex - tinction, yet experimental tests of this phenomenon are lacking in marine ecosystems. In field experiments at 4 sites in 2 tributaries of lower Chesapeake Bay, we examined demographic responses (density and survival) of eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica populations to reef height and associated gradients in sediment deposition and habitat complexity. After 2 yr, oyster reefs exhibited diverging trajectories to ward either degradation or persistence, dependent upon initial reef height. Reefs higher than 0.3 …