The impacts of aquacultured oysters,

Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) on water

column nitrogen and sedimentation: results
of a mesocosm study
Jennifer Mugg Pietros, Michael A. Rice
*
Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Rhode Island,
Kingston, RI 02881, USA
Received 27 June 2002; received in revised form 1 October 2002; accepted 7 October 2002
Abstract
To determine effects of aquacultured oysters Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) on the
overlying water column, a mesocosm study was performed at the Marine Ecosystem Research
Laboratory (MERL) from June to October, 2000. The MERL facility is located adjacent to
Narragansett Bay and consists of fourteen 13,000-l mesocosm tanks designed to simulate the Bay
environmental conditions. Two hundred oysters ( c35 mm valve height; nominally filtering about
55 l/day/individual) were placed into three mesocosms, and three mesocosms were maintained
without oysters as controls. Experiments were run with varying rates of water exchange in the tanks
ranging from 0% to 100% per day (13,000 l/day). Parameters that were measured and compared
between the two treatments included chlorophyll-a, particulate organic and inorganic matter,
sedimentation, nitrate, ammonia, selected phytoplankton species and oyster growth rates. Oysters
affected phytoplankton species composition and increased rates of sedimentation. Large diatoms
were net sampled, and Nitzchia striata was predominant in mesocosms with oysters, while
Skeletonema costatum dominated the control tanks. Ammonia excretion rates were determined for C.
virginica using the salicylatehypochlorite method. Ammonia excretion can be described by the
allometric equation E=50.65w
0.699
when E is the ammonia excretion rate in Ag/h, and w is the soft
tissue dry weight in grams. Based on rates of ammonia excretion by oysters and observed steady
states of ammonia and other forms of inorganic nitrogen in mesocosm tanks, it can be hypothesized
0044-8486/03/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0044-8486(02)00574-4
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M.A. Rice).
www.elsevier.com/locate/aqua-online
Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422
that ammonia generated by oysters is taken up by rapidly regenerating phytoplankton in the water
column.
D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Crassostrea virginica; Oysters; Environmental impacts; Mesocosm; Sedimentation rates; Nitrogen
cycling
1. Introduction
In Narragansett Bay, the number of shellfish aquaculture farms has been growing
since 1995 (CRMC, 2001), and the question of environmental impacts has been raised.
Inevitably, comparisons are drawn between aquacultural practices and other more
established uses of the coastal waters. For example, since pre-industrial times urban
and coastal development has nearly doubled nitrogen input and caused excess eutrophi-
cation (Nixon, 1997). One suggested solution for mitigating of eutrophication is to
increase bivalves in Narragansett Bay through aquaculture (Ulanowicz and Tuttle, 1992;
Rice, 2000).
Attention has been focused on historical populations of fisheries resources and the
historical ecology of coastal ecosystems (e.g. Jackson et al., 2001). As in other estuaries,
the oyster population in Narragansett Bay has changed throughout history. In 1911, there
were 20,846 acres leased for cultivating oysters or about one-third of the bottom of
Narragansett Bay. The landings at that time were 1,394,983 bushels of oysters and an
additional 1,331,192 gallons of oyster meats (Rhode Island Commissioners of Shellfish-
eries, 1912). Assuming 30 kg/bushel live weight, 33% shucked meat weight to live weight
ratio, 4 kg/gallon shucked meats, and 20% dry to shucked weight ratio, the 1911 harvest
amounted to 57,825 metric tons live weight, 19,275 metric tons shucked weight or 3855
metric tons dry soft tissue weight sold.
Historical records of Rhode Islands oyster industry can be used to draw inferences
about the population structure oysters in the Bay. Oyster recruitment in Narragansett Bay
has long been known to be very episodic; even at the time of earliest oyster landing
records beginning 1865 the natural sets of oysters in Narragansett Bay were rare. For
example, there were two good natural sets (1897 and 1898) during the decade of the
1890s (Rhode Island Commissioners of Shellfisheries, 1900), then two more over a decade
later in 1910 and 1911 (RI Commissioners of Shellfisheries, 1912). Due to fishing
pressure, native oyster reefs were no longer intact, so to sustain the industry seed oysters
were brought in from Connecticut, New York, and as far away as Virginia (Rhode Island
Commissioners of Shellfisheries, 1908). Laws mandated return of cultch materials back to
the Bay. Assuming that it took 3 years for oysters to reach market size on the leases, the
average standing crop biomass in 1911 would be about 2.5 times the annual harvest or
144,562 metric tons live weight or about 9637 metric tons soft tissue dry weight. In 1999,
only 41.9 metric tons, shucked wet weight, which is equivalent to 8.4 metric tons tissue
dry weight, were landed (NMFS, 2002). Of that total, 350,000 oysters or about 0.9 metric
tons tissue dry weight was produced by aquaculture (Alves, 2000). Thus, over the course
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 408
of the 20th century, there has been over a thousand-fold decrease in the oyster fisheries and
oyster populations.
Natural populations of bivalves are known to control phytoplankton blooms, reduce
total suspended solids through filter feeding (Cloern, 1982; Officer et al., 1982; Haamer,
1996; Soto and Mena, 1999) and recycle and remove organic nutrients in the water column
(Doering and Oviatt, 1986; Rice, 1999). However, there is little information on the impacts
aquacultured bivalves have on the environment except for a few studies on mussels and
the northern quahog (Dahlback and Gunnarsson, 1981; Kaspar et al., 1985; Mojica and
Nelson, 1993; Haamer, 1996; Grant et al., 1995; Kaiser et al., 1996, 1998). In some of
these studies, particularly in the case of off-bottom intensive mussel culture in areas with
low tidal flushing, the result was bottom hypoxia caused by feces and pseudofeces
accumulation on the sediment. The primary purpose of the present study is to evaluate the
environmental impacts of bivalve aquaculture on chlorophyll levels, total organic carbon,
particulate organic matter, sedimentation rates, phytoplankton species composition, nitrate
and ammonia concentrations.
2. Materials and methods
The experiments were conducted at the Marine Ecosystem Research Laboratory
(MERL), Narragansett, RI, from late June to early October, 2000 using six 13,000-l
mesocosms that simulate the environmental conditions of a shallow, unstratified coastal
ecosystem. During the experiment, tank agitators (3 rpm and periodically reversing
direction to minimize vortex formation), were used to prevent stratification in the tanks.
The mesocosms closely resemble Narragansett Bay with respect to primary production
(Oviatt et al., 1981), nutrient concentration and dynamics (Pilson et al., 1980), temperature
and mixing (Nixon et al., 1980) and phytoplankton population structure (Vargo et al.,
1982), so they provide a good means for conducting well-constrained experiments
mimicking coastal environments (Sanford, 1997). In the experiment, three mesocosms
were stocked with oysters (treatment) and three were not stocked with oysters (control). In
the treatment mesocosms, oyster cages (1 1 1 m wire-mesh with three shelves to hold
61 61 5 cm, 12-mm mesh plastic mesh bags described by Rheault and Rice, 1995)
were stocked with two hundred 35-mm oysters each. With a nominal filtration rate of 55 l/
individual/day (based upon average daily filtration rates in Haven and Morales-Alamo,
1970; Riisgard, 1988), population filtration approximates the entire mesocosm volume per
day. However, according to Powell et al. (1992), the 55 l/day filtration rates by oysters in
the size range we used are in the high range of reported literature values, if we were to use
their alternative lower estimate, the oysters may be filtering at about 15 l/individual/day,
thus increasing the tank filtration turnover time to about 3 days. Measurements of the
longest axis of all oysters were taken weekly with vernier calipers to the nearest millimeter
to determine growth. Mortalities were noted. Water quality measurements including
dissolved oxygen, temperature and salinity were measured (usually at 9:00 AM) 3 to 5
times per week with an YSI Environmental Monitoring System 610-D. Walls of the tanks
were cleaned twice per week with an apparatus that had scrub pads attached to a hoist.
This helped to remove any fouling that had occurred.
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 409
Comparisons made between treatment and control mesocosms at different water
exchange rates. The parameters measured were chlorophyll, particulate organic matter
(POM), particulate inorganic matter (PIM), ammonia, nitrate, sedimentation rate, phyto-
plankton species composition and total particulate matter. Chlorophyll-a samples were
taken twice a week, 3 times a day at 6 AM, 11 AM and 4 PM from each of the tanks.
Chlorophyll was determined by fluorometry after extraction in acetone (Yentsch and
Menzel, 1963) and read on a Turner Designs Model 10 Fluorometer. To determine PIM
and POM, triplicate 1-l seston samples from the water column were taken twice a week,
were filtered on to a pre-weighed, pre-combusted (450 jC) glass fiber filter (Whatman GF/
C) and rinsed with 500 mM ammonium formate. This was dried at 60 jC for 48 h and then
weighed to the nearest milligram. The filter was then ashed in a muffle furnace at 450 jC
for at least 2 h (Conover, 1966). To determine sedimentation rates, two sedimentation traps
(20 cm
2
collection area, 10 cm in height) were lowered to the bottom of each tank
alongside the oyster cages or in the center of control tanks for 24 h and the samples
collected on a filter, ammonium formate rinsed, and ashed. Total particulate matter residual
in the mesocosm tanks was determined at the end of the experiment. Tanks were drained to
0.5 m and were stirred manually with a canoe paddle until a homogenous mixture was
formed, then the tanks were sub-sampled. The total volume was determined and three sub-
samples (3 l each) were taken manually and filtered on to a 20-Am nylon filter. The
particulate matter was rinsed in 500 mM ammonium formate, then placed in an aluminum
container dried at 100 jC overnight, dry weights taken, and the samples were ashed at 450
jC according to methods of Gross (1972).
Ammonia was sampled weekly at several times per day according to the same schedule
as the chlorophyll measurements. Five-milliliter samples were taken in triplicate and
analyzed by the salicylatehypochlorite method (Bower and Holm-Hansen, 1980).
Concentrations were determined by plotting the sampled values against a standard dilution
series of ammonium sulfate. Nitrate was sampled weekly by using a commercial test kit
(LaMotte Chemical, Chestertown, MD, USA), which is a manganese-sulfanilamide
reduction technique, that we modified for colorimetric readings to be performed using a
Spectronic 20 spectrophotometer at an absorbance wavelength of 560 nm to increase
measurement precision. Concentrations of nitrate in test samples were determined by
plotting the values against a standard using a dilution series of sodium nitrate, with a
coefficient of variance of <5% in the 0.1 to 0.5 mg/l range.
Large cell and chain-forming phytoplankton species composition was determined by
quantitative tow sampling from bottom to top of the height of the mesocosms with a 20-
Am mesh phytoplankton net with a 0.13-m diameter opening. One-milliliter sub-samples
were taken of the phytoplankton collected from the plankton net collection bottle after it
was inverted 150 times and preserved in 1% Utermohls solution (Smayda and Boleyn,
1966). Triplicate sub-samples of phytoplankton was placed in a Sedgwick Rafter cell and
species were identified under a compound microscope using phytoplankton guides and
references to known species in Narragansett Bay (Karentz and Smayda, 1984, 1998). The
total numbers of large cell and chain forming phytoplankton such as the genera
Skeletonema and Nitzchia were recorded per 1-ml volume.
Flow rates of raw influent water pumped by diaphragm pump (to keep plankton intact
and alive) into the mesocosms from the adjacent West Passage of Narragansett Bay were
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 410
adjusted weekly to 100% (a complete water exchange or 13,100 l/day) 3550%, 1525%,
and 0%, or static, with no water exchange. Each flow rate was replicated for at least three
continuous weeks (Table 1). The various paired control and treatment experiments were
run sequentially at the different flow rates according to the schedule in Table 1.
The different parameter results between treatment tanks and controls were statistically
analyzed with t-tests to determine significance since only experimental and control tanks at
any given water exchange rate were to be compared. Since various flow tests were not run
simultaneously, detailed inferences among the various exchange regimes would be
tenuous, thus more detailed ANOVA analyses are not reported. The data was sorted and
compiled using Microsoft Excel and was analyzed using SPSS (Chicago, IL, USA)
version 10.0 statistical package software for Microsoft Windows.
Baseline ammonia excretion rates by Crassostrea virginica were determined in the lab
to update measurements from past studies (Srna and Baggaley, 1976; Hammen et al.,
1966) with the more sensitive salicylatehypochlorite method (Bower and Holm-Hansen,
1980). The newer method was used for ammonia monitoring in the mesocosms. Excretion
rates were measured by determining an hourly rate rather than a daily rate to minimize
ammonia being lost from the experimental vessel by volatizing, chemical transformation
or metabolic product interference from bacteria in the test vessels. Thirty variously sized
oysters ranging from 1.3 to 5.5 g dry tissue weight (approximately 25 to 80 mm valve
height) were placed individually into aerated fresh 1-Am filtered seawater in 2-l static
plastic containers after being starved for 24 h. Plastic containers without oysters but
holding an equal volume of aerated filtered seawater served as the controls. Temperature,
pH, and salinity were monitored (and deviated little from 21 jC, 27 ppt, 7.8 pH), as they
are important determinants of speciation between dissolved volatile ammonia and the
ammonium ion (Emerson et al., 1975). Samples (5 ml each) were read on a Milton Roy
Spectronic 20+ spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 640 nm, calibrated with an
ammonium formate standard to determine the total ammonia nitrogen (TAN= NH
3
N).
Table 1
Schedule of different flow rates throughout the experimental mesocosms during the summer/fall of 2000
Flow rates (%) l/day Dates
100 13,000 July 5thJuly 12th
July 12thJuly 19th
July 19thJuly 26th
July 26thAugust 4th
3550 45006500 September 8thSeptember 16th
September 16thSeptember 22nd
September 29thOctober 6th
1525 19503250 August 4thAugust 11th
September 1st September 8th
September 22ndSeptember 29th
0 0 August 11thAugust 18th
August 18thAugust 25th
August 25thSeptember 1st
Raw seawater was pumped into mesocosm tanks from the adjacent West Passage of Narragansett Bay at the daily
exchange rates indicated.
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 411
Table 2
Means and standard errors of the mean of treatments (three tanks each) with and without oysters and their P-
values for parameters including nitrate, chlorophyll, ammonia, particulate inorganic matter in the water column,
particulate organic matter in the water column, as well as total particulate organic matter and total particulate
inorganic matter on the tank bottoms at the end of the experiment
Parameters (sampling frequency) Mean FSEM (n)
with oysters
Mean FSEM (n)
without oysters
P-value
Nitrate (weekly) mg/l mg/l
100% Flow rate 0.65 F0.11 (19) 0.56 F0.10 (19) 0.595
3550% Flow rate 0.36 F0.07 (7) 0.50 F0.13 (7) 0.391
1525% Flow rate 0.69 F0.18 (7) 0.64 F0.15 (7) 0.916
0% Flow rate 0.85 F0.17 (9) 0.82 F0.16 (9) 0.950
Chlorophyll (semi-weekly) Ag/l Ag/l
100% Flow rate
6 AM 4.61 F0.56 (27) 5.60 F0.63 (27) 0.150
11 AM 4.93 F0.41 (27) 6.22 F0.78 (27) 0.190
4 PM 6.85 F0.78 (24) 7.62 F0.70 (24) 0.575
3550% Flow rate
6 AM 19.89 F5.28 (18) 10.68 F2.77 (18) 0.373
11 AM 11.46 F2.40 (15) 22.16 F9.59 (15) 0.775
4 PM 5.69 F1.74 (18) 4.33 F0.69 (18) 0.623
1525% Flow rate
6 AM 15.80 F4.71 (18) 9.00 F2.86 (18) 0.351
11 AM 18.35 F5.91 (18) 15.41 F5.80 (18) 0.719
4 PM 10.30 F1.99 (18) 6.84 F1.26 (18) 0.168
0% Flow rate
6 AM 6.91 F3.03 (18) 5.59 F2.10 (18) 0.745
11 AM 5.38 F4.62 (18) 3.37 F3.27 (18) 0.448
4 PM 2.67 F1.48 (18) 2.17 F1.27 (18) 0.608
Ammonia (weekly w/ triplicate samples/tank) Ag/l Ag/l
100% Flow rate 60.32 F6.09 (52) 67.01 F12.21 (52) 0.838
3550% Flow rate 25.15 F1.33 (27) 33.02 F7.63 (27) 0.585
1525% Flow rate 39.01 F4.05 (32) 42.23 F4.24 (32) 0.890
0% Flow rate 20.42 F1.49 (32) 20.59 F1.79 (32) 0.924
PIM in water column
(semi-weekly in triplicate/tank)
mg/l mg/l
100% Flow rate 1.79 F0.22 (27) 1.43 F0.23 (27) 0.318
3550% Flow rate 2.75 F0.46 (18) 2.20 F0.39 (18) 0.415
1525% Flow rate 1.73 F0.42 (18) 1.87 F0.51 (18) 0.859
0% Flow rate 2.20 F0.33 (18) 1.90 F0.23 (18) 0.192
POM in water column
(semi-weekly in triplicate/tank)
mg/l mg/l
100% Flow rate 2.49 F0.34 (27) 2.08 F0.28 (27) 0.181
3550% Flow rate 1.97 F0.62 (18) 2.23 F0.30 (18) 0.688
1525% Flow rate 1.73 F0.30 (18) 2.30 F0.44 (18) 0.411
0% Flow rate 1.43 F0.19 (18) 1.43 F0.23 (18) 1.00
Total POM sediment (g) in
tanks at end of experiment
1606 F345.9 (3) 1168 F126.9 (3) 0.310
Total PIM sediment (g) in
tanks at end of experiment
4526 F728.4 (3) 2574.5 F756.7 (3) 0.138
Data include multiple measures in three individual tanks with time, but when duplicate or triplicate samples were
taken per tank, the mean measurement value was used as n = 1. All data are P>0.05.
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 412
The hourly rates of total ammonia appearing over an 8-h period for each oyster were
averaged and corrected with the control determinations, and the allometric relationship
between dry tissue weight and ammonia excretion was determined.
3. Results
The physical parameters of salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen showed little
variability among all six tanks between late June to early October. The temperature
remained near 20 jC (maximum 24 jC) for most of the experiment, but towards the end
(early October) it dropped to 16 jC. The salinity stayed between 30 and 30.5 ppt for the
months of June, July, August and early September. The salinity started to increase in mid-
September and continued to increase into early October up to 31.5 ppt at the end.
Dissolved oxygen stayed at saturation, close to 8 mg/l in all six tanks for most of the
experiment, but increased in mid-September and early October to 10 mg/l with lower
temperatures.
Table 3
Calculations of phytoplankton species found from a plankton tows performed in treatment and control tanks
Average # of phytoplankton species/l volume towed
Mean
Nitzchia
striata #
SEM
(n = 3)
P-value
(t-test)
Mean
Skeletonema
costatum #
SEM
(n = 3)
P-value
(t-test)
With oysters 186,500 10,001 0.0002 42,750 1645 0.000017
Without oysters 48,450 4353 343,100 12,229
Data represent mean of single tows taken from three each experimental and control mesocosm tanks in mid-
July, 2000.
Table 4
Means of treatments with and without oysters and their P-values for particulate organic and inorganic matter in
sedimentation traps
Parameter Mean (mg) FSEM
(n = 9) with oysters
Mean (mg) FSEM
(n = 9) without oysters
P-value
Particulate organic matter in 20-cm
2
sedimentation traps per day
100% Flow rate 14.1 F7.1 19.4 F7.5 0.334
3550% Flow rate 82.9 F28.0 9.8 F4.0 0.001
1525% Flow rate 70.3 F21.2 9.3 F2.5 0.001
0% Flow rate 39.0 F23.2 7.4 F3.9 0.036
Particulate inorganic matter in 20-cm
2
sedimentation traps per day
100%FFlow rate 6.0 F1.9 6.0 F0.9 1.0
3550% Flow rate 24.8 F7.1 5.2 F2.1 0.001
1525% Flow rate 18.1 F4.4 3.3 F0.6 0.001
0% Flow rate 12.0 F6.9 3.0 F1.9 0.036
Sediment traps (20 cm
2
in collection area) were placed in mesocosms for a 24-h period during each of the flow
regimes (n = mean of duplicate determinations).
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 413
The initial mean size of the oysters (34.3 mmF3.4 s.d.) from the beginning of the
experiment increased to 45.6 mmF5.9 at the end, with no statistical differences among
the treatment tanks. During the course of the experiments, 30, 30 and 27 oysters out of the
initial 200 oysters in each of the respective mesocosm treatment tanks died.
Parameters that showed no statistical differences between treatment tanks with oysters
and the controls (a =0.05 when two-tailed t-test) were: nitrate, chlorophyll-a, ammonia,
PIM in the water column, POM in the water column, total POM on the bottom at the end,
Table 5
A comparison of particulate organic matter and inorganic matter on the tank bottom (2.5 m
2
) expressed as g/m
2
/
day of tank bottom between treatments with oysters and controls without oysters by different measurements being
at the end of the experiment versus using mean values obtained from 24-h sedimentation traps (20 cm
2
) at four
different flow rates calculated for duration of experiment (June 29 to Oct. 5)
End of experiment
mean FSEM
(n = 3) g/m
2
/day
Sediment trap
mean FSEM
(n =36) g/m
2
/day
POM with oysters 6.51 F1.41 25.01 F3.96
POM without oysters 4.73 F0.53 5.30 F0.77
PIM with oysters 18.30 F2.95 7.23 F1.01
PIM without oysters 10.42 F3.07 2.26 F0.32
Fig. 1. A regression analysis of ammonia excretion by oysters of different dry weight sizes. Data represent
excretion of ammonia by 24-h starved oysters placed in 2 l of fresh seawater with samples taken on an hourly
basis for 8 h. Data points refer to ammonia excretion rates of individual oysters as a function of their individual
soft tissue dry weights. Regression statistics are as follows: R
2
=0.2069, y-intercept =1.7046 F0.1120 (s.d.),
slope = 0.6992 F0.2242 (s.d.), 95% confidence limits on slope = 0.171, 1.172.
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 414
and total PIM on the bottom at the end. A listing of the means for each treatment group at
different flow rates with their respective standard errors and P-values are shown in Table 2.
Phytoplankton species composition did show a significant difference from a plankton
tows taken in July. Treatments were quantitatively dominated by Nitzchia striata and
controls were dominated by Skeletonema costatum (Table 3).
Mean organic matter collected in sedimentation traps for treatments and controls for
four different flow rates are compared (Table 4). Significant differences were found at
a = 0.05 for 0%, 15 to 25%, 35 to 50% flow rates when using a two-tailed t-test. No
significant differences were found at the 100% flow rate. Mean inorganic matter collected
in sedimentation traps for treatments and controls for four different flow rates were also
compared (Table 4), and significant differences were also found at a = 0.05 for 0%, 15 to
25%, 35 to 50% flow rates. No significant differences were found at the 100% flow rate.
Total organic and inorganic matter are compared between sedimentation traps and on the
tank bottoms at the end of the experiment (Table 5). The values obtained for POM and
PIM in tanks with oysters and without oysters at the end of the experiment did not show a
difference at the P< 0.05 level. The treatment tanks in all cases always had more
particulate matter than the controls.
The laboratory ammonia excretion studies in the laboratory showed an allometric
relationship between ammonia excretion and dry weight of the soft tissues with an R
2
value of 0.2069 (Fig. 1). The allometric equation describing the excretion of ammonia as a
function of soft tissue dry weight is:
E 50:65w
0:699
where E= ammonia excretion rate (Ag/h), and w= soft tissue dry weight (g).
4. Discussion
Assessing the environmental effects of aquaculture is becoming increasingly more
important as the aquaculture industry grows. This research provided information on what
impact oysters have on the environment, and whether or not they may aid in combating the
problem of eutrophication caused by increased nutrient inputs into coastal estuaries. We
measured several parameters in this study, but only a few showed statistically significant
differences.
One concern in setting up the design was determining what the carrying capacity should
be. The term carrying capacity in connection with shellfish aquaculture has been used to
mean the stocking density achievable without incurring density-dependent stunting (Incze
et al., 1981) or alternatively in the population ecology sense of the maximum stocking
density achievable without causing food depletion or population mortalities (Smaal et al.,
1998). Aquaculture lease sites are often placed in areas where there is a rapid tidal exchange
(Pitcher and Calder, 1998), and stocking densities are often managed such that growth and
mortalities are maintained at an economic optimum (e.g. Rheault and Rice, 1996).
Despite our efforts to stock the mesocosm test tanks based upon literature values of
filtration rates such that there was a daily population filtration turnover of the water, there
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 415
is strong evidence that we did not reach the carrying capacity of the system for oysters.
First, all the oysters grew well with comparable growth and mortality rates to oysters in
commercial culture nearby in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay (William Geib,
personal communication, 2001). Second, in previous flume experiments, depression in
growth rates was accompanied by a marked decrease in chl-a and particulate organic
matter in the water column (Rheault and Rice, 1996), which was not observed in the
mesocosms (Table 2). Finally, Tenore and Dunstan (1973) reported that oysters exhibit
maximum feeding when food concentration is above 0.25 mg-C/l (or about 0.5 mg/l
POM). During the different flow rate treatments, the level of POM in the mesocosm tanks
never fell below this level (Table 2).
Due to substantial declines in shellfish populations in the United States, there has been
considerable interest establishing shellfish restoration programs (e.g. Mann, 2000; Rice et
al., 2000; White et al., 2000). Some information for these programs can be derived from
our mesocosm study by extrapolation to estuarine oyster populations. Based on the
experimental stocking density, a calculation can be made to determine the amount of
oyster biomass Narragansett Bay might be able to sustain. The total volume of
Narragansett Bay has been calculated to be 2.724 10
9
m
3
with a complete tidal exchange
rate of 25.5 days (Pilson, 1986). On average, this works out to be 1.068 10
8
m
3
of new
water/day. In the mesocosms, 200 oysters were in a volume of 13.1 m
3
with water turnover
ranging from 100% (the nominal oyster filtration with no physical water exchange) to
200% (the nominal oyster filtration + the 100% physical exchange of water per day) so the
proportional number of oysters in Narragansett Bay according to volume would be
1.63 10
9
oysters at 1.3 g dry weight is 2.1 10
10
g or 21,000 metric tons dry weight
(or 315,000 metric tons live weight). This calculated biomass is about twice the estimated
1911 oyster population in Narragansett Bay (144,562 metric tons as previously discussed).
Phytoplankton generation times in Narragansett Bay during the warmer spring through
fall bloom periods are on the order of 3 to 4 days (Durbin and Durbin, 1981), so
regeneration of phytoplankton is likely to be more important to maintaining oyster
populations than the 25.5-day water exchange. Newell (1988) estimated the time for
oysters to completely filter the volume of Chesapeake Bay had dropped from 3.4 days in
the late 19th century to 325 days. Based upon these population filtration estimates alone,
he speculated the decline in the oyster population over the last century may have
exacerbated suspended particulate concentrations simply by reducing rates of biodeposi-
tion (Newell, 1988). Actual effects of bivalves on coastal ecosystems are much more
complex. Our results show that although there is an increase in biodeposition in treatment
tanks, there is no apparent decrease in water column POM and chlorophyll-a content
although oysters were stocked at a density that would elicit filtration of the entire
mesocosm tank volume in 1 to 3 days, a time period corresponding to Newells 19th
century population filtration rates. The data from our study in no way negates findings that
filter feeders in high population numbers can reduce water column turbidity, indeed zebra
mussels have demonstrably increased water clarity in the Great Lakes (Budd et al., 2001).
Bivalve population filtration rates must exceed phytoplankton regeneration for this to
occur and the population filtration of our experimental stocking density approximating
historically high populations of oysters in the Narragansett and Chesapeake Bays does not
exceed the phytoplankton regeneration rate.
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 416
The effects of restoration of oyster reefs or reestablishment of oyster aquaculture to
early 20th Century levels on populations of other filter feeders in Narragansett Bay
remains an open question. Fishery landing records show that landings of northern quahog
(Mercenaria mercenaria) grew from about 100 metric tons in 1920 to over 2000 tons per
year (shucked meat weight) in the late 1950s as the oyster industry was in decline (NMFS
statistics cited in Boyd, 1990). Whether this fishery was based strictly on under exploited
stocks of quahogs, or there was a niche replacement by quahogs as oysters declined
remains speculative. Anecdotal information from Rhode Island shellfishermen suggests
that populations of the slipper shell Crepidula fornicata have increased as oyster
populations declined. There is some evidence that this filter feeding gastropod may be a
niche competitor with oysters (MacKenzie, 1981) but this hypothesis is controversial
(DeMontaudouin et al., 1999), and remains an open question.
We determined the rate of ammonia excretion by oysters (Fig. 1). Our data show that
ammonia excretion by individual oysters is highly variable, but average ammonia
excretion can be described as an allometric function of body weight with an exponent
between 0.67 and 0.75. This is within the generally expected of size scaling of metabolic
processes (Kleiber, 1961). Based on these rates, two hundred 35-mm oysters would
excrete 22.4 Ag-N/l/day in the tanks. The data show no differences in ammonia content
between tanks with oysters and the control tanks without oysters. In addition the tanks had
a much lower ammonia concentration (Table 6) than was calculated from the laboratory
study. The ammonia is not lost to nitrification because nitrate levels remain constant
between the test and control tanks (Table 2).
Uptake of nitrogen by phytoplankton such as the Nitzchia striatum and perhaps
unmeasured nanoplankton and picoplankton in the mesocosms may explain these results.
For Nitzchia striatum, the regeneration rate would be the difference between the
populations in the treatment and control tanks or 138,050 cells/l/day. Assuming 5 ng/
cell dry weight based on cell dimensions and average organic content of phytoplankton
(Durbin and Durbin, 1981), daily biomass production is 0.7 mg/l/day, and 3% dry weight
nitrogen content (Durbin and Durbin, 1981) would yield a nitrogen requirement of 20 Ag/l/
day to regenerate the Nitzchia striatum. This is statistically no different than the expected
Table 6
Ammonia in mesocosms
Actual and expected ammonia concentrations in mesocosms
Exchange rate
in mesocosms
(m
3
/day)
Tanks with
oysters (Ag/l),
mean FSEM (n)
Tanks without
oysters (Ag/l),
mean FSEM (n)
P Expected ammonia in
test tanks based on oyster
excretion studies (Ag/l)
13 60.32 F6.09 (52) 67.01 F12.21 (52) 0.838 72
4.57.5 25.15 F1.33 (27) 33.02 F7.63 (27) 0.585 123270
23.25 39.01 F4.05 (32) 42.23 F4.24 (32) 0.890 332392
0 20.42 F1.49 (32) 20.59 F1.79 (32) 0.984 491
Expected daily NH
3
increment above the expected in tanks without oysters based on individual oyster excretion
rates = 22.4 Ag/l day or 470.4 Ag/l during 3-week course of experiment in the static tanks and diluted values
based on various water exchange rates. P values are result of difference in means between test and control
tanks by t-test.
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 417
daily increment in ammonia concentration (22.4 Ag-N/l/day). Additional nitrogen may be
scavenged by the unmeasured nanoplanktonic flagellates and picoplankton known to be in
the mesocosms and adjacent Narragansett Bay (Vargo et al., 1982; Karentz and Smayda,
1998). These results suggest rapid ammonia utilization by phytoplankton, and explain the
paradox of increased sedimentation without concomitant reduction of water column
particulates.
Studies have also suggested that benthic bivalves are important facilitators of regen-
erating inorganic nutrients (e.g. Doering et al., 1986, 1987; Dame et al., 1991; Dame and
Libes, 1993). Recently, Souchu et al. (2001) found that oysters were not food-limited
during the summer due to the regenerated primary production enhanced by benthic
nutrient fluxes from oyster beds in Thau lagoon, located in southern France. One
immediate conclusion that might be drawn from these previous and the recycling of
ammonia suggested in this study is that shellfish restoration efforts may be less effective in
reducing estuarine eutrophication than has been suggested by Cloern (1982), Officer et al.
(1982), Newell (1988) and Rice (2000), who drew their conclusions primarily from
filtration rate modeling and/or continual harvest of shellfish by fisheries and aquaculture
operations. The question about the efficacy of bivalves in reducing estuarine eutrophica-
tion remains open largely due to the unquantified relationship between rates of reminer-
alization and rates of denitrification in the sediments in proximity to the bivalves, and due
to unquantified scaling effects that are important in estuarine processes. In the current
study, we focused upon recycling of nitrogen, mostly ammonia in the water column, and
largely ignored benthic processes attendant to processing sedimentation materials from the
bivalves. Denitrification is stimulated in sediments beneath bivalve aquaculture opera-
tions, including New Zealand mussels (Kaspar et al., 1985), and oysters in the south of
France (Gilbert et al., 1997). This line of inquiry deserves renewed attention. Recent
evidence by Newell et al. (2002) have shown that C. virginica in shallow water may be
increasing rates of denitrification by showing denitrification rates in sediment cores with
added phytoplankton cell slurries as an experimental analog for oyster feces and
pseudofeces. The degree to which bivalves act to release nutrients during the summer
that sustain phytoplankton blooms months after the major spring blooms in the northern
hemisphere (e.g. Chapelle et al., 2000) remains a key question. The role of bivalve
assemblages to reduce eutrophication by stimulation of secondary productivity in higher
trophic levels, including nekton, also remains unknown.
There is a discrepancy between the values obtained for particulate organic matter and
inorganic matter between the sediment traps and the amount collected at the end of the
study (Table 5). This may be explained as an artifact of the sediment traps, their location in
relation to the oyster cages, or currents established by the tank agitator. Amounts of POM
and PIM were both higher in tanks containing oysters compared to the control tanks. The
largest discrepancy between the sediment traps and the sediment accumulated at end of
experiment was between the expected POM in the tanks with oysters (25 g/m
2
/day) and
the measured (6 g/m
2
/day). This may be the due to oxidation of organic matter. Rudnick
and Oviatt (1986) examined the seasonal lags between organic carbon deposition and
mineralization in marine sediments. During summer, maximum benthic metabolism occurs
at a higher rate as compared to winter and spring. Sedimentation also varies because of
changes in phytoplankton size structure, pelagic and benthic grazing, and microbial
J.M. Pietros, M.A. Rice / Aquaculture 220 (2003) 407422 418
activity in the water column (Rudnick and Oviatt, 1986). Since our experiment was
conducted during a time when oyster filtration was high and the metabolic activity of
decomposing bacteria is maximal, this may explain the differences in organic matter.
Modification of phytoplankton assemblages in constructed oyster fattening ponds has
been long studied in France (e.g. Dupuy et al., 1999). Similarly, our data show a shifting of
large phytoplankton species dominance between tanks with oysters and controls. Oysters
rapidly deplete the chain-forming diatom S. costatum (Table 3), and the rapidly growing
pennate diatom Nitzchia striatum replaces these organisms. These data suggest that oysters
are selectively feeding on S. costatum, a good food for adult oysters (Walne, 1974;
Soletchnik et al., 2001).
At the densities and exchange rates studied, aquacultured oysters had little effect on
several environmental parameters, but they did affect the phytoplankton species compo-
sition and sedimentation. The phytoplankton species dominance shifted from S. costatum
to N. striata species in mesocosms containing the oysters. The sedimentation rates based
on the sediment traps in the tanks with oysters were significantly greater than the tanks
without oysters. Sediment in mesocosms at the end of the experiment was greater in
treatment mesocosms with oysters, but these contained less organic material than was
expected based upon 24-h sedimentation studies using sediment traps. This is probably
possibly due to organic decomposition in the benthos. The ammonia concentration in the
mesocosms was less than expected based on laboratory excretion measurements, suggest-
ing uptake by rapidly regenerating phytoplankton.
Acknowledgements
Financial support for this research was provided by the Rhode Island Agricultural
Experiment Station under project number H-886. This is publication number 3920 of the
College of the Environment and Life Sciences, University of Rhode Island. The authors
wish to gratefully acknowledge Dr. Candace A. Oviatt, director of the Marine Ecosystems
Research Laboratory for providing facilities for this study. We also acknowledge the able
technical assistance of URI undergraduate Coastal Fellow Monique Perron, and MERL
facilities manager Edwin Requintina for systems engineering support. Jeff Gardner of
Watch Hill Oysters (located in Winnepaug Pond, Westerly, RI) donated the oysters for this
study. Two anonymous Aquaculture reviewers provided invaluable suggestions to improve
the manuscript.
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