Between the river and deep blue Gulf: The past and future of
oysters in Florida's Big Bend Oyster reefs offer diverse
ecological and social services for people and natural
environments; unfortunately, reefs are also highly sensitive to
impairment from natural and human-induced disturbances.
Florida's Big Bend coastline (Gulf of Mexico coast from Crystal
River to Apalachee Bay) supports large expanses of oyster reef
habitat that have existed for thousands of years in a region
that is one of the most pristine coastal zones in the
continental US. Using historical and current aerial imagery
between 1982 and 2011 postdoctoral associate Jennifer Seavey,
along with WEC faculty Peter Frederick and Bill Pine found a 66%
net loss of oyster reef area. Losses were concentrated on
offshore (88%), followed by nearshore (61%), and inshore reefs
(50%). This very rapid loss is not typical of the local
geological geological succession pattern. Multiple lines of
evidence suggests that the primary mechanism for reef loss is
rela