The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a keystone species in the estuaries of the mid-Atlantic of the United States.Its population experienced drastic declines in the last century due to overfishing, habitat loss, and disease.Much interest has been focused on restoring this WILD FLOWER HONEY important commercial and ecological species.
This research focused on evaluating the suitability of using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) from road projects as an alternative bottom conditioning material for oyster restoration and aquaculture in the Chesapeake Bay.Three types of substrate (RCA, natural oyster shell, and RCA with a veneer of oyster shell) were used as bottom conditioning materials and tested their impacts on benthic epifaunal community and oyster recruitment at two sites in the Chesapeake Bay over the summer and fall of 2013.The diversity and abundance of the epifaunal community, and oyster spat density associated with these bottom conditioning materials were sampled.
The results showed there was no significant difference across substrate type (RCA, oyster shell, and RCA with oyster Console Electronics shell) in terms of their impacts on benthic community diversity and oyster recruitment, demonstrating that RCA, as an alternative material, was generally similar to natural oyster shell with regards to ecosystem services provided, and could be a potential source for much needed bottom substrate for oyster restoration and aquaculture.