Fig 1.
Site map of 20 sampled oyster reefs in Middle Marsh, Back Sound, NC, USA.
Fig 2.
Relationships between oyster-reef vertical relief (cm) and total nitrogen stored within oyster reefs (g N m-2; A); and live oyster density (individuals m-2) and annually averaged nitrogen burial rates by intertidal restored oyster reefs (g N m-2 y-1; B).
Fig 3.
Mean values across habitat contexts for relief (cm; A), density (individuals m-2; B), N composition (g N m-2; C), and burial rate (g N m-2 y-1; D).
Table 1.
Summary of mean C:N ratio across habitat contexts, calculated using values from each core section. Superscripts indicate statistical significance.
Fig 4.
Linear regression to compare % nitrogen and % carbon in oyster reef sediments for each habitat context.
Each datum represents a 5-cm vertical section of a core collected from oyster reefs. Analysis produced an R2 value of 0.742.
Fig 5.
Map of oyster reefs in Calico Creek, NC, USA, as delineated by the NC Department of Marine Fisheries.
Average nitrogen burial rates for each habitat context were multiplied by the area of respective reefs to estimate annual removal and value of the ecosystem service.