Doctoral Dissertation Research: Examination of Long Term Organization of Oyster Management Systems

本博士论文项目探讨的问题是，在很长一段时间内，如何通过地方的、集体协商的机构有效地管理资源。牡蛎是此类资源的一个例子，是与健康的生态系统、渔业和经济直接相关的重要关键物种。本项目对过去指导牡蛎管理系统的行动、目标和机构提供了长期视角，同时为现代牡蛎管理和恢复工作提供了相关数据。该项目与坦帕湾河口项目和佛罗里达鱼类和野生动物研究所合作，提供了佛罗里达州最大的开放水域河口的考古基线，可以改进用于管理和恢复的栖息地适宜性模型，这是一个可以应用于全球河口的框架。该项目的重点是研究佛罗里达州坦帕湾印第安人社会使用的牡蛎管理系统的证据，并将其与当代牡蛎法规进行对比。通过整合集体行动理论和历史生态学的概念，本研究评估了管理牡蛎礁的制度在时间和空间上的弹性。将管理系统设想为选择性采伐实践、权属制度和增强策略的结合，提供了一个可检验假设的框架。该研究利用了坦帕湾河口下游三个林地时期贝壳岛遗址的先前挖掘材料和正在进行的挖掘。牡蛎形态、稳定同位素和微量元素地球化学以及动物考古学方法通过估算牡蛎收获的季节和环境、选择偏好和收获率，为牡蛎管理系统提供见解。对来自家庭和公共场所的牡蛎进行比较，以阐明权属制度的潜在差异。考古数据集由来自各种栖息地的现代牡蛎的健壮数据集构成。在不同的当代环境中，贝壳形态的差异被用来估计考古贝壳的收获栖息地。这种跨学科的方法产生了新的比较方法，并展示了考古学在现代河口管理中的相关性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This doctoral dissertation project addresses the question of how, over long periods of time resources can be effectively managed through local, collectively negotiated institutions. Oysters are an example of such resources and are a vital keystone species directly related to healthy ecosystems, fisheries, and economies. This project provides long-term perspectives on the actions, goals, and institutions that guided oyster management systems in the past while generating data relevant to modern oyster management and restoration efforts. Collaborating with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, this project provides archaeological baselines from Florida’s largest open-water estuary that can refine habitat suitability models used in management and restoration—a framework that can be applied to estuaries worldwide. The focus of the project is to examine the evidence of oyster management systems used by Native American societies of Tampa Bay, Florida, and to contrast them with contemporary oyster regulations. By integrating concepts from collective action theory and historical ecology, this study assesses the resilience of the institutions governing oyster reefs across time and space. Envisioning management systems as a combination of selective harvesting practices, tenure systems, and enhancement strategies provides a framework of testable hypotheses. The research draws on previously excavated materials and ongoing excavations at three Woodland period shell-bearing island sites in the lower reaches of the Tampa Bay Estuary. Oyster morphology, stable isotope and trace element geochemistry, and zooarchaeological methods from well-dated contexts are enlisted to provide insights into oyster management systems by estimating the season and environment of oyster harvest, selective preferences, and harvesting rates. Oysters from domestic and public spaces are compared to elucidate potential differences in tenure systems. Archaeological datasets are contextualized by robust datasets of modern oysters from a variety of habitats. The differences in shell morphology between contemporary environments are used to estimate the harvesting habitats of the archaeological shells. This interdisciplinary approach generates new comparative methods and demonstrate the relevance of archaeology in modern estuary management.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.