TY - JOUR

T1 - Records reveal the vast historical extent of European oyster reef ecosystems

AU - Thurstan, Ruth

AU - McCormick, Hannah

AU - Preston, Joanne

AU - Ashton, Elizabeth C.

AU - Bennema, Floris P.

AU - Cetinic, Ana Bratos

AU - Brown, Janet H.

AU - Cameron, Tom C.

AU - da Costa, Fiz

AU - Donnan, David W.

AU - Ewers, Christine

AU - Fortibuoni, Tomaso

AU - Galimany, Eve

AU - Giovanardi, Otello

AU - Grancher, Romain

AU - Grech, Daniele

AU - Hayden-Hughes, Maria

AU - Helmer, Luke

AU - Jensen, K. Thomas

AU - Juanes, Jose A.

AU - Latchford, Janie

AU - Moore, Alec

AU - Moutopoulos, Dimitrios K.

AU - Nielson, Pernille

AU - Nordheim, Henning von

AU - Ondiviela, Barbara

AU - Peter, Corina

AU - Pogoda, Bernadette

AU - Poulsen, Bo

AU - Pouvreau, Stephane

AU - Roberts, Callum

AU - Scherer, Cordula

AU - Smaal, Aad C.

AU - Smyth, David

AU - Strand, Asa

AU - Theodorou, John A.

AU - zu Ermgassen, Philine S. E.

PY - 2024/12/1

Y1 - 2024/12/1

N2 - Anthropogenic activities have impacted marine ecosystems at extraordinary scales. Biogenic reef ecosystems built by the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) typically declined before scientific monitoring. The past form and extent of these habitats thus remains unknown, with such information potentially providing valuable perspectives for current management and policy. Collating >1,600 records published over 350 years, we created a map of historical oyster reef presence at the resolution of 10 km2 across its biogeographic range, including documenting abundant reef habitats along the coasts of France, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Spatial extent data were available from just 26% of locations yet totalled >1.7 million hectares (median reef size = 29.9 ha, range 0.01–1,536,000 ha), with 190 associated macrofauna species from 13 phyla described. Our analysis demonstrates that oyster reefs were once a dominant three-dimensional feature of European coastlines, with their loss pointing to a fundamental restructuring and ‘flattening’ of coastal and shallow-shelf seafloors. This unique empirical record demonstrates the highly degraded nature of European seas and provides key baseline context for international restoration commitments.

AB - Anthropogenic activities have impacted marine ecosystems at extraordinary scales. Biogenic reef ecosystems built by the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) typically declined before scientific monitoring. The past form and extent of these habitats thus remains unknown, with such information potentially providing valuable perspectives for current management and policy. Collating >1,600 records published over 350 years, we created a map of historical oyster reef presence at the resolution of 10 km2 across its biogeographic range, including documenting abundant reef habitats along the coasts of France, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Spatial extent data were available from just 26% of locations yet totalled >1.7 million hectares (median reef size = 29.9 ha, range 0.01–1,536,000 ha), with 190 associated macrofauna species from 13 phyla described. Our analysis demonstrates that oyster reefs were once a dominant three-dimensional feature of European coastlines, with their loss pointing to a fundamental restructuring and ‘flattening’ of coastal and shallow-shelf seafloors. This unique empirical record demonstrates the highly degraded nature of European seas and provides key baseline context for international restoration commitments.

U2 - 10.1038/s41893-024-01441-4

DO - 10.1038/s41893-024-01441-4

M3 - Article

VL - 7

SP - 1719

EP - 1729

JO - Nature Sustainability

JF - Nature Sustainability

SN - 2398-9629

IS - 12

ER -