Publications by authors named "Luke Helmer"

Article Synopsis
  • The European flat oyster, a vital part of marine ecosystems and a key economic resource, has seen its habitats drastically decline, leading to functional extinction.
  • Recent studies compiled data from 1524 to 2022 to reveal past locations and extents of flat oyster fisheries and reefs, highlighting where these ecosystems once thrived.
  • These datasets aim to support flat oyster restoration efforts and improve adaptive management strategies while helping recover overlooked histories of ocean ecosystem changes caused by human activities.
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The European flat oyster () is a bivalve mollusc that was once widely distributed across Europe and represented an important food resource for humans for centuries. Populations of experienced a severe decline across their biogeographic range mainly due to overexploitation and disease outbreaks. To restore the economic and ecological benefits of European flat oyster populations, extensive protection and restoration efforts are in place within Europe.

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Warming sea-surface temperature has led to an increase in the prevalence of Vibrio species in marine environments. This can be observed particularly in temperate regions where conditions for their growth has become more favourable. The increased prevalence of pathogenic Vibrio species has resulted in a worldwide surge of Vibriosis infections in human and aquatic animals.

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The haplosporidian parasite Bonamia exitiosa was detected using PCR in four adult and six larval brood samples of the European flat oyster Ostrea edulis from the Solent, UK. This represents the second reported detection of this parasite along the south coast of England. Adult oysters were collected and preserved from seabed populations or restoration broodstock cages between 2015 and 2018.

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The decline of the European oyster across its biogeographic range has been driven largely by over-fishing and anthropogenic habitat destruction, often to the point of functional extinction. However, other negatively interacting factors attributing to this catastrophic decline include disease, invasive species and pollution. In addition, a relatively complex life history characterized by sporadic spawning renders biologically vulnerable to overexploitation.

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