Oyster density of restored reef edge/interior in Quonochontaug Pond, RI in May 2019 (NCEI Accession 0291552)

This dataset contains data collected from 2019-05-07 to 2019-05-09. These data include depth. The instruments used to collect these data include Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus and ruler. These data were collected by A. Randall Hughes, Jonathan Grabowski, and Theresa Davenport of Northeastern University as part of the "CAREER: Linking genetic diversity, population density, and disease prevalence in seagrass and oyster ecosystems (Seagrass and Oyster Ecosystems)" project. The Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) submitted these data to NCEI on 2022-11-02.

The following is the text of the dataset description provided by BCO-DMO:

Oyster density on restored reefs

Dataset Description:
Acquisition Description:
These data were published in Table S1 of Davenport et al., 2022 (Restoration Ecology).

To quantify the observed pattern of higher oyster density around the edges of reefs at Quonochontaug Pond, Rhode Island, USA, (41.3 N, 71.7 W) we surveyed oyster density and reef relief in May 2019. Divers haphazardly placed 0.25 m² quadrats on each oyster reef and excavated all live and recently dead oysters (N = 3-5 quadrats per reef on each of edge and interior). Live oysters were counted in the field before returning them to the reef in the same location where they were collected. Top valves were removed from recently dead oysters (open oysters with both valves present, but no live tissue) to confirm they were dead before replacing them. Divers also measured water depth with a meter stick at each quadrat, at the highest point on each reef, and at the unstructured bottom adjacent to each reef. Reef relief and quadrat relief were calculated by subtracting the water depth at each quadrat (quadrat relief) or the highest point on the reef (reef relief) from the water depth on the adjacent unstructured bottom.