Seafloor Ecology Research   I   Recent Publications   I   Reports   I   Oyster Restoration Program

The benthic ecology program emphasizes basic and applied ecology of invertebrates, including those living in estuarine and shallow continental shelf habitats. Recent and current projects include bottom habitat mapping in the Gulf of Maine, succession of benthic communities in restored eelgrass beds and intertidal mudflats, the impacts of open ocean aquaculture activities on benthic communities, and temporal dynamics of benthos in New England coastal waters. In addition to community-level research, our program includes the physiological ecology and population-level aspects of several species of bivalve molluscs. This work has dealt with how environmental factors like water currents and food quantity and quality affect feeding and growth. It is basic research and it has implications for applied uses as well, particularly for aquaculture and restoration ecology. Ongoing bivalve projects include a community-based habitat restoration project involving Portsmouth (NH) Middle School, restoration of a disease-decimated oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reef, and the ecology and management of oyster reef declines in the Canaveral National Seashore, Florida.