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The WFSU Ecology Blog

  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • In Their Words: Black Legacy Communities in North Florida
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
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      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources

Oyster Doctors

by Rob Diaz de Villegas February 7, 2014
Oyster Doctors

Predator fear, biodiversity, and the collapse of the Apalachicola oyster fishery. The second In the Grass, On the Reef documentary follows four years of research into the ecology of the coast.

Oyster Doctors examines the value of scientific research.  Does it matter if predators scare mud crabs into not eating oysters?  Does this science only have value when the techniques developed are used to help restore an economically important resource?  Set against the backdrop of Florida’s spectacular Forgotten Coast, our researcher’s failures and triumphs lead to unexpected discoveries and an ever-expanding string of questions about the inner workings of our coasts.  You’ll never look at your seafood the same way again.

In their biogeographic oyster study, Dr. David Kimbro, Dr. Randall Hughes, and their colleagues investigate predators and their control over the oyster reef ecosystem.  Predators can eat the consumers of oysters and limit their numbers, but fear might have a stronger effect.  And if it does, how does that effect vary across different geographic regions with different top predators?

In his Apalachicola Bay study, David and his crew are investigating the collapse of the Apalachicola oyster fishery.  What combinations of environmental factors (such as drought or increased salinity) and predator effects derailed Florida’s biggest oyster producer? Many of the tools and techniques used in this experiment were developed during the biogeographic study.

St. Joseph Bay marshSalt marshes are as productive a habitat as oyster reefs, and just as vulnerable to drought.  In her biodiversity study, Randall looks at how the genetic makeup of a salt marsh may make it less susceptible to disturbances.

Bay Mouth Bar at SunsetFor a few days each month, the tide might get low enough at Bay Mouth Bar to expose its seagrass beds and the incredible diversity of life they shelter. David and his lab have repeated surveys conducted in the late 1950s by Dr. Robert  Paine and found a few significant changes have occurred over the last fifty years.  Like oyster reefs, the removal of a top predatory species could play a role in these changes to the sandbar.

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iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

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