A team of researchers based at the University of Central Florida鈥檚 Coastal & Estuarine Ecology Laboratory (CEELAB) studying sustainable coastal restoration, thanks to a $100,000 grant recently awarded by the .
Pegasus Professor of Biology Linda Walters said UCF doctoral student Katherine Harris deserves 鈥渁ll the credit鈥� for her fieldwork on how mangroves and oyster reefs interact.
鈥淣obody鈥檚 looked at this before, because it just was never an issue before,鈥� Walters said.
But now, rising sea temperatures and warmer winters are reeling more and more mangrove shrubs farther north from their usual tropical climate. And those mangroves are settling on 鈥� and overtaking 鈥� oyster reefs.
鈥淭here are reefs that didn鈥檛 have any mangroves on them even five years ago, and now they鈥檒l have one per square foot,鈥� Walters said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big, rapid change, and it鈥檚 all because we haven鈥檛 had hard frosts in the winter over the last twenty years.鈥�
Mangroves provide Florida鈥檚 shoreline with valuable protection from storm surge during hurricanes, and oysters help to clean the water. Independently, Walters says, mangroves and oysters are each highly beneficial.
READ MORE: Climate surprise: warming planet helps Florida mangroves conquer oysters
But 鈥渢hey were never designed to interact,鈥� she said.
Since 1943, the Indian River Lagoon lost 63% of its oyster coverage, Walters said.
鈥淲hat appears to be happening is the mangroves release chemicals through their roots that actually dissolve oyster shell,鈥� Walters said.
That chemical dynamic is one key element the Disney grant will help CEELAB to continue researching, Walters said. Another area is CEELAB鈥檚 testing of biodegradable, non-plastic materials that could replace the microplastics typically used in coastal restoration efforts.
Microplastics can poison or kill birds if the birds ingest them, . That 2020 study was the first to confirm and quantify microplastics found in Florida birds like hawks, ospreys and owls.
The Disney grant will also bolster researchers鈥� ongoing efforts to engage and educate community members on coastal restoration methods, including by adding a virtual reality component to the team鈥檚 restoration events.
Walters said the project鈥檚 focus is 鈥渢o have the community involved in the entire restoration process, from making the materials that you鈥檙e deploying, to deploying them, to monitoring them.鈥�
To date, more than 67,000 people have volunteered with the CEELAB team on various projects, Walters said.
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