Fulweiler and Ray Publish Paper Comparing Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Native and Non-Native Oysters

Pardee Center Faculty Research Fellow Prof. Robinson W. (Wally) Fulweiler and 2019 Graduate Summer Fellow Nicholas Ray recently published a paper titled “Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Native and Non-native Oysters” in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science. The paper’s lead author was Gretchen McCarthy of the Fulweiler Lab.

The introduction of non-native species of oysters is commonly associated with a wide range of ecosystem changes, such as habitat destruction, competition with native species, and biodiversity loss, but the role these species play in biogeochemical processes like changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is not well understood. In the paper, the authors compared GHG emissions from native and non-native oysters using laboratory incubations. They observed strong seasonal GHG fluxes, with the native species producing about twice as much nitrous oxide and 20 times as much methane as the non-native species.

In September, Prof. Fulweiler convened a two-day workshop hosted by the Pardee Center to explore the nitrogen removal capacity of oyster habitats via denitrification. The workshop brought together a group of about 30 experts to assess the current state of knowledge on denitrification associated with oyster aquaculture and develop a path forward for including nitrogen removal capacity in future nutrient trading schemes.

As a 2019 Graduate Summer Fellow, Ray (a PhD candidate in the Department of Biology) developed a predictive model to estimate how much oyster aquaculture can reduce excess nitrogen in coastal ecosystems.