Oyster Integrated Mapping and Monitoring Program report for the State of Florida
Oysters provide a variety of critical ecosystem services to coastal communities in Florida. They improve water quality and clarity as they filter feed, lessen shoreline erosion, and provide a habitat or food source for a wide variety of birds, fish, and invertebrates. Oysters are commercially valuable as a harvested food source, and historically their shell has been mined extensively for construction material. The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is the only reef-building oyster in Florida and forms both subtidal and intertidal reefs. Numerous other species of non-reef-building oysters are less frequent. This report focuses primarily on the eastern oyster, because it is the most abundant oyster in Florida and because it is important as both a keystone species and an ecosystem engineer.
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Format: | monograph biblioteca |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
2019
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Subjects: | Conservation, Florida, oyster, eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, Oyster Integrated Mapping and Monitoring Program, OIMMP, oyster reef, |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/41152 |
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Summary: | Oysters provide a variety of critical ecosystem services to coastal communities in Florida. They improve water quality and clarity as they filter feed, lessen shoreline erosion, and provide a habitat or food source for a wide variety of birds, fish, and invertebrates. Oysters are commercially valuable as a harvested food source, and historically their shell has been mined extensively for construction material. The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is the only reef-building oyster in Florida and forms both subtidal and intertidal reefs. Numerous other species of non-reef-building oysters are less frequent. This report focuses primarily on the eastern oyster, because it is the most abundant oyster in Florida and because it is important as both a keystone species and an ecosystem engineer. |
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