Oyster Reef Sweet Spots: Evaluating oyster reef restoration locations and configurations for optimizing ecological success and coastal defense performance

Oyster reefs are valued as nature-based coastal defenses for their ability to i) reduce wave heights from wind waves and boat wakes, ii) reduce coastal erosion, iii) protect marsh vegetation. In addition, these reefs provide multiple other ecosystem services that make them a valued living shoreline choice. Oyster reef defenses function similarly to engineered breakwaters; reefs that sit at higher elevations relative to the local tidal range are more effective at wave attenuation, but oyster reefs that sit at lower elevations are more ecologically successful since oysters require long inundation times to thrive. Current deployment schemes for breakwaters intended to meet coastal protection needs do not typically consider parameters that influence oyster survivorship and growth. The resulting breakwaters, although successful in attenuating waves, are not able to provide the multiple other ecosystem services that depend on oyster recruitment and growth. We propose to develop a tool for the integrated assessment of the wave attenuation and oyster survivorship and growth potential of novel reef substrates across different configurations and inter-tidal locations. This tool will help users identify the inter-tidal "sweet spots" where substrate deployment can achieve both ecological success and coastal defense performance.

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