Website

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.66t1g1jz4

Region(s)

NW

Summary

The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is home to the world's largest remaining wild oyster fisheries, but baseline surveys needed to assess habitat condition are recent and may represent an already-shifted reference state. Here, we use prehistoric oysters from archaeological middens to show that oyster size, an indicator of habitat function and population resilience, declined prior to the earliest assessments of reef condition in an area of the GoM previously considered pristine. Stable isotope sclerochronlogy reveals extirpation of colossal oysters occurred through truncated life history and slowed growth. More broadly, our study suggests that management strategies affected by shifting baselines may overestimate resilience and perpetuate practices that risk irreversible decline.

Parameters

Oyster shell height (mm)

Notes

The modern oyster data counterpart to the archaeological oyster data in this program are entered under program ID_5070. The publication associated with these program data is: Hesterberg SG et al. 2020. Prehistoric baseline reveals substantial decline of oyster reef condition in a Gulf of Mexico conservation priority area. Biol. Lett. 16: 20190865. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0865 . The publication that reports the archaeological shell sample collection methods is: Pluckhahn, T.J., Thompson, V.D., Cherkinsky, A., 2015. The temporality of shell-bearing landscapes at Crystal River, Florida. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 37, 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2014.10.004

Application

Publications

Start

2012

End

2013

Frequency

One-time

Method

Shells were collected from a series of trenches dug into middens at the Crystal River archaeological site. The trenches were 1m wide and ranged from 2m-6m in length. They were excavated in 1m x 1m spatial intervals and 10cm depth intervals. 0.32cm sieves were used to extract the shell. Shell heights of all left valves >35mm were measured using vernier calipers.

Discontinuity

Data Location

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.66t1g1jz4

Data Format

.xlsx

Habitats

Oyster/Oyster Reef

SEACAR Citation

University of South Florida. (2013). Prehistoric baseline reveals substantial decline of oyster reef condition in a Gulf of Mexico conservation priority area - archaeological oyster data. Updated 12/09/2021. Distributed by: SEACAR Data Discovery Interface, Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection, Florida Department of Environmental Protection. https://data.florida-seacar.org/programs/details/5072

Alternative Citation

indicates priority attributes