Freshwater Detention by Oyster Reefs: Quantifying a Keystone Ecosystem Service

Oyster reefs provide myriad ecosystem services, including water quality improvement, fisheries and other faunal support, shoreline protection from erosion and storm surge, and economic productivity. However, their role in directing flow during non-storm conditions has been largely neglected. In regions where oyster reefs form near the mouth of estuarine rivers, they likely alter ocean-estuary exchange by acting as fresh water “dams”. We hypothesize that these reefs have the potential to detain fresh water and influence salinity over extensive areas, thus providing a “keystone” ecosystem service by supporting estuarine functions that rely on the maintenance of estuarine (i.e., brackish) conditions in the near-shore environment. In this work, we investigated the effects of shore-parallel reefs on estuarine salinity using field data and hydrodynamic modeling in a degraded reef complex in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Results suggested that freshwater detention by long linear chains of oyster reefs plays an important role in modulating salinities, not only in the oysters’ local environment, but over extensive estuarine areas (tens of square kilometers). Field data confirmed the presence of salinity differences between landward and seaward sides of the reef, with long-term mean salinity differences of >30% between sides. Modeled results expanded experimental findings by illustrating how oyster reefs affect the lateral and offshore extent of freshwater influence. In general, the effects of simulated reefs were most pronounced when they were highest in elevation, without gaps, and when riverine discharge was low. Taken together, these results describe a poorly documented ecosystem service provided by oyster reefs; provide an estimate of the magnitude and spatial extent of this service; and offer quantitative information to help guide future oyster reef restoration.