Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Index/Abstracts
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Call for Papers
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
    • Land Economics
    • Landscape Journal
    • Native Plants Journal

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Ecological Restoration
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
    • Land Economics
    • Landscape Journal
    • Native Plants Journal
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Ecological Restoration

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Archive
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Index/Abstracts
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Call for Papers
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Visit uwp on Facebook
Restoration ArticleRESTORATION PRACTICE

Oyster Reef Restoration in New Hampshire, USA: Lessons Learned During Two Decades of Practice

Raymond Grizzle, Krystin Ward, Ray Konisky, Jennifer Greene, Holly Abeels and Robert Atwood
Ecological Restoration, December 2021, 39 (4) 260-273; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/er.39.4.260
Raymond Grizzle
Research Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, 85 Adams Point Road, Durham, NH 03824.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: [email protected]
Krystin Ward
Senior Laboratory Technician, Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Ray Konisky
The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire, 112 Bay Road, Newmarket, NH.; present address: Principal, K2 Science LLC, Friendship, ME.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jennifer Greene
Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH; present address: Director, Programs and Project Management, City of Mobile, Mobile AL.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Holly Abeels
Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH; present address: Florida Sea Grant Extension Agent, University of Florida IFAS Extension Brevard County, Cocoa, FL.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Robert Atwood
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Durham, NH.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations in New Hampshire were approaching historical low levels in the late 1990s when broadly supported oyster restoration projects were initiated. Since then, the state’s collaborative program has conducted approximately 20 projects. Most consisted of constructing a hard substrate (usually mollusc shells) reef base then adding live juvenile oysters (“spat-on-shell”) produced in remote setting tanks. Assessments conducted in 2013, 2015, and 2019 provided long-term (up to 13 years post-construction) data on success and identified potential improvements to the restoration protocol involving two design criteria: reef base and site location. All three long-term assessments found excessive base burial (sedimentation) at many sites, leading to attempts to balance base height, bottom area coverage, and available funds. The result for most projects was multiple, haphazardly positioned shell mounds extending < 0.5 m above the bottom. The site location process initially focused on areas where oyster reefs occurred historically, but after the 2013 assessment and subsequent field experiments, the focus changed to identifying areas with the highest potential for recruitment from wild oysters. This research, which involved three natural reefs over two years, found > 75% of total recruitment occurred < 400 m from the natural reefs. Most current restoration projects center around these two design criteria: multiple shell mound structure and proximity to a healthy natural reef. The New Hampshire experience thus far confirms the emphasis by others on the value of long-term assessments, but as is the case in most areas, much remains to be learned and accomplished.

Keywords:
  • adaptive management
  • habitat restoration
  • reef design criteria
  • restoration success
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Ecological Restoration: 39 (4)
Ecological Restoration
Vol. 39, Issue 4
December 2021
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Ecological Restoration.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Oyster Reef Restoration in New Hampshire, USA: Lessons Learned During Two Decades of Practice
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Ecological Restoration
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Ecological Restoration web site.
Citation Tools
Oyster Reef Restoration in New Hampshire, USA: Lessons Learned During Two Decades of Practice
Raymond Grizzle, Krystin Ward, Ray Konisky, Jennifer Greene, Holly Abeels, Robert Atwood
Ecological Restoration Dec 2021, 39 (4) 260-273; DOI: 10.3368/er.39.4.260

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Oyster Reef Restoration in New Hampshire, USA: Lessons Learned During Two Decades of Practice
Raymond Grizzle, Krystin Ward, Ray Konisky, Jennifer Greene, Holly Abeels, Robert Atwood
Ecological Restoration Dec 2021, 39 (4) 260-273; DOI: 10.3368/er.39.4.260
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Oysters and Their Management in New Hampshire
    • Reef Restoration Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Spread of an Aquatic Invasive Plant, Iris pseudacorus, Following Replacement of a Hydraulic Structure
  • Restoration of Society-Nature Relationship Based on Education: A Model and Progress in Patagonian Drylands
Show more Restoration Practice

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • adaptive management
  • habitat restoration
  • reef design criteria
  • restoration success
UW Press logo

© 2025 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire