Oyster reef restoration supports increased nekton biomass and potential commercial fishery value.
Oyster reef restoration supports increased nekton biomass and potential commercial fishery value.
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作者：
Humphries AT;La Peyre MK
在整个地球仪，围绕自然价值的讨论推动了许多保护和恢复决策。因此，管理活动的正当性越来越多地要求两方面的证据：（1）增强生态系统功能或服务的生物学证据，以及（2）这些服务的货币估值。牡蛎礁在全球范围内已大幅减少，恢复工作也在增加，在资源减少的时候，提供地方一级珊瑚礁服务的生物和货币证据的必要性变得更加重要。在这里，我们量化的物种生物量和潜在的商业价值的游泳动物收集恢复牡蛎（Crassostrea virginica）珊瑚礁在路易斯安那州沿海超过3年的时间，随着时间的推移提供多个快照的生物量支持。总体而言，随着时间的推移，鱼类和无脊椎动物的生物量在恢复牡蛎礁比泥底高212%，或0.12 kg m−2。商业物种的额外生物量相当于当地渔业价值增加226%，即0.09 m−2美元。了解恢复项目的生态系统价值，以及它们如何与区域管理优先事项相互作用，对于为当地决策提供信息和提供可测试的预测至关重要。当地管理人员可以直接使用对牡蛎礁恢复（如这一恢复）可能增加的商业渔业的定量估计来确定投资的预期回报。
Across the globe, discussions centered on the value of nature drive many conservation and restoration decisions. As a result, justification for management activities increasingly asks for two lines of evidence: (1) biological proof of augmented ecosystem function or service, and (2) monetary valuation of these services. For oyster reefs, which have seen significant global declines and increasing restoration work, the need to provide both biological and monetary evidence of reef services on a local-level has become more critical in a time of declining resources. Here, we quantified species biomass and potential commercial value of nekton collected from restored oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs in coastal Louisiana over a 3-year period, providing multiple snapshots of biomass support over time. Overall, and with little change over time, fish and invertebrate biomass is 212% greater at restored oyster reefs than mud-bottom, or 0.12 kg m−2. The additional biomass of commercial species is equivalent to an increase of local fisheries value by 226%, or $0.09 m−2. Understanding the ecosystem value of restoration projects, and how they interact with regional management priorities, is critical to inform local decision-making and provide testable predictions. Quantitative estimates of potential commercial fisheries enhancement by oyster reef restoration such as this one can be used directly by local managers to determine the expected return on investment.