William Strachey, an early English settler, wrote, “Oysters there be in whole banks and beds, and those of the best. I have seen some thirteen inches long”. Strachey’s 1612 quote was included in “The Oyster in Chesapeake History” written by Henry M. Miller, PhD, Director of Research for Historic St. Mary’s City. When early colonists arrived in America, the Chesapeake Bay was abundant in oysters. They soon became, and still are today, a huge commercial industry. From overharvesting and pollution of the bay, the current eastern oyster population is now 1% of its original size. Losing this keystone species would create a catastrophic ripple effect, endangering thousands of other Chesapeake Bay species.
Before I delve deeper into a paper about oyster ecology, I will give you some background definitions. The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is known as a keystone species, meaning this oyster is linked to the function and survival of a wide array of species. Their existence is crucial to the organization and success of the entire Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Oysters serve as biofilters, shelter and habitat for other organisms, and prey for numerous predators.
The eastern oyster’s population is rapidly declining because of overharvesting and pollution. Restoration projects focus on placing…show more content… A team of environmental scientists at the University of Maryland addressed the questions of increased macrofaunal density and trophic level organization in restored reefs. Kennedy T. Paynter, Ph.D., is the director of the University of Maryland’s Marine, Estuarine, Environmental Science Program. Paynter’s lab and publications focus on the biology, ecology, and restoration of the eastern oyster. The 2005 paper written with his student researcher, William S. Rodney, was published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. While Rodney is listed as first author on this paper, Paynter supervised this
