1. POPULATION GENETICS OF DELAWARE INLAND BAYS OYSTERS: A CASE STUDY ON HATCHERY-STOCKED OYSTER GARDENING
- Author
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Borsum, Scott, Parsaeimehr, Ali, Fuoco, Melanie, Liu, Ming, Guo, Ximing, Gaffney, Patrick, and Ozbay, Gulnihal
- Subjects
Gardening -- Case studies ,Ecosystems -- Case studies ,Crassostrea -- Case studies ,Biological diversity -- Case studies ,Population genetics -- Case studies ,Oysters -- Case studies ,Natural resources -- Case studies -- Virginia ,Biological sciences ,Zoology and wildlife conservation - Abstract
Although populations of the eastern oyster Crassostreu Virginia! have been the focus of numerous studies for more than a century, less is known about the coastal lagoon populations such as those of Delaware's Inland Bays. Increasingly, oyster restoration projects in coastal regions are incorporating oyster stocking programs to restore areas with reduced oyster populations to capture both economic benefits and ecosystem services provided by healthy reefs. In Delaware, the Center for the Inland Bays conducted a volunteer oyster gardening program lasting 20 y employing disease-resistant hatchery spat. Using a suite of microsatellite loci, we examined the genetic profiles of locally recruited inland bay oysters, nearby wild Delaware Bay oysters, and the disease-resistant hatchery strain to evaluate the potential impact of the gardening program. The Inland Bay samples showed genetic profiles similar to the wild Delaware Bay population, suggesting an extant resident population providing a consistent larval supply, potentially clouding the contribution of the hatchery-spawned gardened oysters. KEY WORDS: Crassostreu Virginia/, Delaware Inland Bays, genetic diversity, INTRODUCTION The current dogma for the conservation of biodiversity within environmental policy arose after centuries of scientific observations documenting the landscape impacts of exploitation, habitat degradation, and increasing human activity [...]
- Published
- 2024
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