About This Project

Human development of New York and other large cities has led to disrupted urban ecology, including the decimation of once widespread native oysters. Oyster restoration is important for defending against storms, keeping the water clean, and sustaining fisheries and ecosystems. Our study will monitor oyster restoration at Soundview Park, Bronx, using both traditional surveys and cutting edge environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Soundview Park oyster restoration will counteract aquatic habitat degradation and species loss from urbanization. Without native oysters, these ecosystems may become more vulnerable to pollution, invasive species, and disease. An important role, oyster reefs serve as physical barriers that protect land against strong storm surges, and could have defended against events like Superstorm Sandy.

As organisms live and die they leave a mosaic of DNA from cells, secretions, or excretions that constitute eDNA. Next generation sequencing can be used to analyze this genetic material collected directly from water and soil. However, surveys and morphological examinations are a traditional form of taxon identification.

Here is a natural oyster reef at Soundview Park. (Photo by: Irena Werner Aug 2015)

What is the significance of this project?

My project is focusing on the power of eDNA analysis using next-generation sequencing methods, in comparison to traditional morphology. Morphological examinations uncover commonly found species at the sites. In contrast, eDNA may reveal additional community members, such as those that have remained unobserved due to size or rarity.

This multidisciplinary data on communities at restored and control sites will provide an ample ecological assessment which is important for future restoration planning.

Sample collected for morphological analysis of restored oyster communities. (Photo by: Irena Werner July 2015)

What are the goals of the project?

My project aims to characterize urban aquatic biodiversity and monitor oyster restoration through an innovative comparative approach based on novel eDNA and classical surveys. We intend to compare the effectiveness of these different approaches for describing aquatic biodiversity.

By using eDNA I will achieve putting into practice a new method of identifying the organisms living in a marine benthic community at Soundview Park and control sites, explore the accuracy of eDNA detection of marine intertidal species commonly recorded in recent morphology records and conduct an ecological assessment to quantify human impacts on the Soundview Park ecosystem.