Quantifying the potential water filtration capacity of a constructed Shellfish Reef in a temperate hypereutrophic estuary

Alan Cottingham; Andrew Bossie; Fiona Valesini; James Tweedley; Eve Galimany

doi:10.3390/d15010113

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Quantifying the potential water filtration capacity of a constructed Shellfish Reef in a temperate hypereutrophic estuary

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Quantifying the potential water filtration capacity of a constructed Shellfish Reef in a temperate hypereutrophic estuary

Alan Cottingham, Andrew Bossie, Fiona Valesini, James Tweedley and Eve Galimany

Diversity (Basel), Vol.15(1), Art. 113

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/d15010113

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Abstract

Biodiversity

Community

Ecosystem services

Ecosystems

Environmental conditions

Estuaries

Eutrophication

Experiments

Feces

Feeding behavior

Filtration

Habitats

High temperature

Laboratories

Mollusks

Nutrients

Organic matter

Reefs

Service restoration

Seston

Shellfish

Stream flow

Summer

Valves

Water filtration

Water purification

Water quality

Winter

Shellfish reefs have been lost from bays and estuaries globally, including in the Swan-Canning Estuary in Western Australia. As part of a national program to restore the ecosystem services that such reefs once provided and return this habitat from near extinction, the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis was selected for a large-scale shellfish reef construction project in this estuary. To assess the potential filtration capacity of the reef, estuary seston quality, mussel feeding behavior, and valve gape activity were quantified in the laboratory and field during winter and summer. In general, estuary water contained high total particulate concentrations (7.9–8.7 mg L−1). Standard clearance rates were greater in winter (1.9 L h−1; 17 °C) than in summer (1.3 L h−1; 25 °C), the latter producing extremely low absorption efficiencies (37%). Mussel valves remained open ~97% and ~50% of the time in winter and summer, respectively. They often displayed erratic behavior in summer, possibly due to elevated temperatures and the toxic microalgae Alexandrium spp. Despite numerous stressors, the reef, at capacity, was estimated to filter 35% of the total volume of the estuary over winter, incorporating 42.7 t of organic matter into mussel tissue. The reefs would thus make a substantial contribution to improving estuary water quality.

Details

Title: Quantifying the potential water filtration capacity of a constructed Shellfish Reef in a temperate hypereutrophic estuary
Authors/Creators: Alan Cottingham - Murdoch University
Andrew Bossie
Fiona Valesini - Murdoch University
James Tweedley - Murdoch University, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
Eve Galimany
Publication Details: Diversity (Basel), Vol.15(1), Art. 113
Publisher: MDPI AG
Identifiers: 991005565370307891
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.2 Marine Biology; 3.2.1002 Bivalve Ecology
Web Of Science research areas: Biodiversity Conservation; Ecology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology