What’s Living on Living Shorelines?
Monitoring a Hybrid Living Shoreline Project in Delaware Bay
J. Paterno1, L. Calvo1, D. Bushek1, M. Katkowski2
1 Rutgers University, Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory
2 The Nature Conservancy
Project Benefits•Reduces current erosion rate and storm damage and improves ecosystem
connectivity•Increases protective capacity to buffer adjacent uplands•Restores and enhances habitat for migratory birds, fish, near-shore marine species
and provides nursery habitats for commercial and recreational fish and shellfish•Provides suitable oyster habitat to promote the growth of oyster reefs•Improves near-shore water quality
The project is supported by federal funding from the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Act.
Gandy’s Beach Shoreline Protection Project
Conservation Goals•Restore salt marsh and adjacent uplands•Improve natural coastal defenses against future storms
Shell bag breakwaters Oyster Castles®
Nantuxent Creek, Money Island NJDowne Township
Finfish and Mobile Invertebrate Monitoring
Pre‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2015
Post‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2016
Species Common Name Pre‐installationJuly‐October 2015
Post‐installationJuly‐October 2016
Paleomonetes spp. grass shrimp 1230 1234Callinectes sapidus blue crab 612 361Fundulus heterclitus mummichog 158 68Menidia menidia Atlantic silverside 184 15Gobiosoma bosci naked goby 87 54Bairdiella chrysoura silver perch 110 8Penaeus aztecus brown shrimp 3 67Crangon septemspinosa sand shrimp 29 15Anchoa mitchili bay anchovy 8 30Fundulus majalis striped killifish 32 6Opsanus tau oyster toadfish 4 25Rhithropanopeus harrisii estuarine mud crab 2 12Anguilla rostrata American eel 7 5Cynoscion regalis weakfish 3 4Micropogonias undulatus Atlantic croaker 7 0Paralichthys dentatus summer flounder 5 2Pogonias cromis black drum 3 1Panopeus herbstii Atlantic mud crab 3 0Limulus polyphemus horseshoe crab 0 2Trinectes maculatus hog choker 0 2Centropristis striata black sea bass 0 2Gobiesox strumosus skilletfish 0 1Cyprinodon variegatus sheepshead minnow 1 0Morone americana white perch 1 0
Total number of species 20 20
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Cummulative Num
ber o
f Spe
cies Collected
Number of Net Deployments
Species Accumulation
Pre‐installation
Post‐installation
2015 2016Shannon H' 1.542 1.270Simpson index of diversity 1‐D 0.683 0.545
Species Diversity
0
2
4
6
8
10
2015 2016
Species R
ichn
ess
Year
Mean Species Richness Per Sample
Oyster Recruitment Monitoring
Random Sampling Design
• Four transect lines placed at randomly selected locations perpendicular to structure
• Three quadrat center points are identified at random locations along each transect line
• Twelve, 10x10 cm quadrats examined per reef structure
In each quadrat:• Counted all oysters• Measured five oysters• Counted ribbed
mussels• Estimated percent
cover of fouling organisms (barnacles, algae, tunicates etc.)
0
5
10
15
20
1 2 3 4 5Average Num
ber o
f Oysters per
Qua
drat
Castle Deck
Oyster Abundance: Gandy’s Beach
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Freq
uency
Shell Height Bin (mm)
Oyster Size Frequency
Shell BagsCastles
Trends• Densities of spat in Nantuxent Creek were greater than on Gandy’s Beach (p=0.007)
• Recruitment was similar across all castle decks on Gandy’s Beach, except for deck 5 (p=0.0497)
• Excluding reefs built in November 2016, reef installation date over a 1 year period did not cause significant differences in recruitment on structures (p=0.686)
• However, installation date did have a significant relationship with oyster size (p<0.0005)
Comparisons to Other Constructed Intertidal Reefs:
Location Avg. spat density (‐m2)
Substrate Source
York River,Chesapeake Bay, VA
440 Oyster Castles® Theuerkauf, Burke, Lipcius(2014)
Mobile Bay, Alabama 700 Loose oyster shell
Schulte, Burke, Lipcius(2009)
Cape Shore Region, Delaware Bay, NJ
2,200‐4,200 Shell bags Taylor & Bushek (2008)
Gandy’s Beach, Delaware Bay, NJ*
1,050‐1,600 Oyster Castles® Paterno, Calvo, Bushek(2017)Unpublished
Gandy’s Beach, Delaware Bay, NJ*
260‐2,460 Shell bags Paterno, Calvo, Bushek(2017)Unpublished
* Densities are recruitment after one spawning season and do not account for winter mortality.
2014-2015
Field Observation: Multi-species shellfish habitat
Project Partners
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Bureau of Coastal Engineering
The Nature ConservancyDowne TownshipCumberland CountyThe Partnership for the Delaware EstuaryRutgers University, Haskin Shellfish Research LabParticipating Schools in Cumberland, Atlantic, Salem and Cape May Counties
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 2 3 4
Aver
age
Num
ber
of O
Yste
rs p
er
Qua
drat
Deck
Oyster Abundance: Nantuxent Creek
Shell bagLSB1LSB2LSB3LSB4SSB4SSB5SSB6SSB7SSB8SSB9SSB10SSB11SSB12AB
Total oys107443.1623176.9822746.874843.34
21684.1035877.8818973.4423074.8417848.4222147.8221215.4131582.5724037.826518.692579.61
oys/m22467850583267
1442187510751292942
1192825
11671050333142
383750.94
CastleL6L7L8L9S13S14S15S16L19L20L21L22S2S3LG2LG4SM1SM2SM3
Total # spat/ reef
5705062592
31176
3123437258439512833438906
245923841029465
2441323169418966336579
487952
oys/m2145816001092156711671392164210581208800
15921292
16421558130020582042
873,000 total oysters
Harvested Bed(Nantuxent): Delaware Bay, NJ
24 oysters/m2
(Avg. over 5 years)Oyster reef Alcox, Bushek, Morson,
Munroe (2016)