| Abstract: | The functional role of the intertidal oyster reef community in the southeastern Atlantic coastal zone is described. This description is based on a compilation of published data, as well as some unpublished information presented as hypotheses.
The profile is organized in a hierarchical manner, such that relevant details of reef oyster biology (autecology) are presented, followed by a description of the reef community level of organization. Then the reef community is described as a subsystem of the coastal marsh-ecosystem (synecoloqy). This information is also synthesized in a series of nested conceptual models of oyster reefs at the regional level, the drainage basin level, and the individual reef level. The final chapter includes a summary overview and a section on management implications and guidelines.
Intertidal oyster reefs are relatively persistent features of the salt marsh estuarine ecosystem in the southeastern Atlantic coastal zone. The average areal extent of the oyster reef subsystem in this larger ecosystem is relatively small (about 0.05%). This proportion does not reflect, however, the functional importance of the reef subsystem in stablizing the marsh, providing food for estuarine consumers, mineralizing organic matter, and providing firm substrates in this otherwise soft environment. |
| Genre: | Federal Government Series |
| ProdID: | 53490 |
| Citation Author: | Bahr, Leonard M.; Lanier, William P. |
| Citation Contributing Office: | U.S. Geological Survey |
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| Citation Language: | ENGLISH |
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| Citation Month: | May |
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| Citation Phsyical Description: | x, 105 p. |
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| Citation Publisher: | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Citation Series: | FWS/OBS |
| Citation Series Code: | FWSOBS |
| Citation Series Number: | 81/15 |
| Citation Search Results Text: | The Ecology of Intertidal Oyster Reefs of the South Atlantic Coast: A Community Profile; 1981; Federal Government Series; FWSOBS; 81/15; Bahr, Leonard M.; Lanier, William P. |
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| Citation Year: | 1981 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | The Ecology of Intertidal Oyster Reefs of the South Atlantic Coast: A Community Profile; 1981; Federal Government Series; FWSOBS; 81/15; Bahr, Leonard M.; Lanier, William P. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg |
| URL (DOCUMENT): | http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/techrpt/81-15.pdf |
| Date Other: | Sat, 1 Jan 1994 00:00 -0600 |
| Publisher: | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
