Estuary-Specific and Adaptive Habitat Suitability Index Model for the Eastern Oyster Crassostrea Virginica in the Pensacola Bay System, Florida, USA

Oyster reef, a key ecosystem component in many temperate and subtropical estuarine systems, has been greatly diminished by human influences and ongoing climatic changes. Changes in precipitation, oyster adult and larval distribution, benthic composition, hydrology, currents and/or inputs to the system such as pollutants or sediments complicate the identification of locations that may be suitable for oyster reef restoration. In such cases, development of a habitat suitability index model (HSI) can provide useful guidance on where restoration activities might be successful, and once complete, help to focus the area for restoration project siting consideration. HSI models can be constructed from a variety of data categories including biological requirements of the species to be restored, physical characteristics of the system, regulatory constraints, and socio-economic concerns. Here we describe the development of a geographic information system based HSI model to inform restoration of oyster reef in the Pensacola Bay System, Florida, USA that can be used as a template for oyster reef restoration in other Florida estuaries and beyond. We demonstrate that an oyster habitat HSI model can be relatively simple to construct, useful even with limited environmental data, improved with community stakeholder and resource user input, and easily adaptable.