A Genetic Analysis of Oyster Recruitment Patterns
in Chesapeake Bay
The loss of oyster populations in the Bay to overfishing, sedimentation, anoxia (the absence of oxygen) and, in more recent years, parasitic disease has left reef habitats throughout the Chesapeake widely fragmented. This patchiness could well have impacted gene flow and genetic diversity within river systems. Because fertilization occurs when eggs and sperm are released into the water, proximity of spawning oysters to each other is critical for increasing fertilization rates. Current efforts at oyster restoration and planning are based on the assumption that restored reefs will have the capability of exporting larvae to surrounding habitats. Will they? How far, for example, do larvae disperse? How close do reef habitats have to be? Answers to these questions are critical in deciding where to rebuild oyster reefs. In this project, Drs. Matthew Hare and Kennedy Paynter will employ genetic analyses of adult oysters and larvae in different regions of the Bay system to analyze gene flow of adult oysters. Their findings will give them measures of larval dispersal and in the long run contribute to developing optimum strategies for reef restoration.
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Matthew Hare and Kennedy Paynter
University of Maryland College Park
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