Oyster recruitment and climate change: do higher summer temperatures mean earlier and greater settlement in Pacific oysters?
Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) are an economically beneficial product of the Pacific Northwest, introduced in the 1920s. In the 1940s governments initiated studies on the status and health of oysters in Pendrell Sound, BC (1949-1981) and Hood Canal WA (1942-1995). Seasonal surveys collected inf...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Western CEDAR
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2014ssec/Day1/79 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=ssec |
| Summary: | Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) are an economically beneficial product of the Pacific Northwest, introduced in the 1920s. In the 1940s governments initiated studies on the status and health of oysters in Pendrell Sound, BC (1949-1981) and Hood Canal WA (1942-1995). Seasonal surveys collected information on Pacific oyster settlement and timing through regular placement of spat collectors, usually clean shells. Simultaneously, water temperature was recorded. Because of temperatures in native ranges, reproduction in Pacific oysters is expected to improve in warmer years. Further, reproduction tends to be spatially limited to these two regions of the Salish Sea, where water temperatures can exceed 20° C in the summer. At some sites within regions, maximum seasonal recruitment ranged from less than 55 to nearly 10,000 per shell across summers, with peak timing that ranged from early July to early September. Pacific oysters tended to have earlier and higher settlement in warmer summers. The long term contribution of recruitment to feral populations and commercial stocks will hinge on temperature trends as well as interannual variability. |
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