| NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | February 17, 2012 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | January 25, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1155609 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Daniel J. Thornhill
dthornhi@nsf.gov (703)292-8143 OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate For Geosciences |
| Start Date: | March 15, 2012 |
| End Date: | February 28, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $555,804.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $555,804.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2601 WOLF VILLAGE WAY RALEIGH NC US 27695-0001 (919)515-2444 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NC US 27695-8208 |
| Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
Intellectual Merit: The PIs will use the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, as a model system and will attempt to optimize the design of networks of no-take reserves as a strategy for maintaining metapopulations of this commercially harvested species. The project specifically recognizes that network persistence depends on (1) the potential for growth, survival, and reproduction within reserves, and (2) the potential to distribute offspring among reserves. Thus, demographic processes within reserves and settling areas play important roles, along with variability of physical transport. The PIs plan to: (1) test and refine 3D bio-physical models of connectivity due to oyster larval transport in a shallow, wind-dominated system; (2) test, refine, and apply technology to detect natal origins of larvae using geochemical tags in larval shell; and (3) integrate regional connectivity and demographic rates to model metapopulation dynamics.
Broader Impacts: This study will produce new tools and test and refine others used for studying larval connectivity, a fundamentally important process in the maintenance of natural populations, and thus in biological conservation and resource management. The tools include a hydrodynamic modeling tool coupled with an open-source particle tracking model that will be available on-line with computer code and user guide. The project will use integrated modeling approaches to evaluate the design of reserve networks: results will be directly useful to improving oyster and ecosystem-based management in Pamlico Sound, and the methods will inform approaches to network design in other locations. There is extensive education and outreach in the form of training undergraduate and graduate students, mentoring post-docs, and providing hands-on research opportunities for high school students and their teachers.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Project Outcomes Report for NSF/Bio/Oce 1155609
Title: Collaborative Research: Interacting effects of local demography and larval connectivity on estuarine metapopulation dynamics
A fundamental issue concerning the population dynamics of marine organisms and marine conservation biology involves identifying the paths of larval dispersal connecting isolated populations, and how variation in intensity of dispersal along these paths influences the how these populations fluctuate in space and time. These isolated populations often form what is referred to as a “metapopulation”, which can sometimes contain “source” populations whose birth rates are greater than death rates, therefore providing offspring to other populations via dispersal of larvae or adults. Conversely, isolated “sink” populations are those whose death rates are greater than birth rates, such that their persistence is dependent upon source populations. Marine protected areas can potentially subsidize harvested populations via larval spillover, however, spillover benefits can only be realized if harvested areas contain suitable habitat for larval settlement and survival. This study used the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in Pamlico Sound (PS), North Carolina (NC), USA as the model system to understand how the interacting effects of resource management (e.g., no-take sanctuaries vs fished areas), local oyster demography (e.g., births & deaths), and oyster larval connectivity influenced the dynamics and restoration potential of one of the most important ecosystem engineers in estuarine systems, and whose abundance is at historic lows globally.
Intellectual Merit: The results confirm the benefits of reef restoration and no-take sanctuaries. Not only were oyster densities up to 72 times higher in the no-take sanctuaries than harvested reefs, but few oysters in harvested reefs were greater than the legal harvesting size, whereas protected reefs typically had oysters of different sizes, including many large individuals. Furthermore, the potential larval output was around 6 times higher in the restored, protected reefs. This suggests that there is more larval spillover from sanctuaries to harvested reefs than the other way around – sanctuaries can contribute substantially to the larval supply of the oyster metapopulation. The field observations of oyster demographic rates were then integrated into a metapopulation modeling framework to simulate the entire oyster metapopulation to understand underlying source-sink dynamics. We found that larval connectivity among oyster populations, which is driven mainly by wind-driven surface currents, is a major determinant of the dynamics of the overall metapopulation, followed in importance by reef-specific population sizes, demographic rates, and location of a population within Pamlico Sound. Similar to field observations, the metapopulation model found that 86% of the no-take oyster sanctuaries served as metapopulation sources.
Broader Implications: Future management efforts should consider oysters as an interconnected metapopulation, with continued efforts to protect and restore frequent ‘source’ subpopulations while managing harvest from ‘sink’ subpopulations. An important outcome from this work was the development and application of GIS-based decision support tools that have been adopted at state (NC Division of Marine Fisheries) and national levels (NOAA, The Nature Conservancy) to help guide oyster conservation and restoration, as well as aquaculture. The study supported the training of 3 PhD students, 3 MS students, and 8 undergraduate students.
Last Modified: 06/13/2018
Modified by: David B Eggleston
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