Ensuring that oysters remain sustainable in the face of significant coastal restoration activities, high local subsidence rates, and predicted sea‐level rise requires a deeper understanding of basic population demographics, including reproductive potential. We quantified fecundity (eggs ind⁻¹) of oysters at high‐ and low‐salinity sites during a fall and spring spawn season. We assessed the relationships between oyster size, the relative proportion of females across size classes, and fecundity. Finally, we quantified reproductive potential (eggs m⁻²) of an engineered reef by connecting fecundity with annual oyster population demographic data as a means to assess population sustainability. The proportion of females generally increased with shell height, achieving a population with >50% females in Biloxi oysters >75 mm, and Grand Isle oysters >100 mm. Fecundity across both sites and seasons ranged from approximately 2,000 to >55 million eggs oyster⁻¹. Mean fecundity generally increased with shell height, varying significantly by site, with Grand Isle (high salinity) oysters having greater fecundity than Biloxi (low salinity) oysters. Fecundity did not differ by season. Mean reproductive potential (eggs m⁻²) was driven by density and size distribution. Reefs with high densities and higher counts of market‐sized oysters had reproductive potentials 5× greater than those with low densities and low counts of juvenile oysters. With increasing changes in water quality from coastal management and climate, impacts on oyster reproduction may critically impact population sustainability. Reproductive potential provides critical data to assess individual reef ecosystem services, and to assess the potential for maintenance of local metapopulations.

中文翻译：

---

利用繁殖潜能评估牡蛎种群的可持续性

要确保牡蛎在重大的沿海恢复活动，高局部沉降率以及预计的海平面上升面前保持可持续性，就需要对基本人口统计数据，包括生殖潜力，有更深入的了解。我们在秋季和春季产卵季节量化了高盐度和低盐度牡蛎的繁殖力（egs ind ^-1）。我们评估了牡蛎大小，跨大小类别的雌性相对比例和繁殖力之间的关系。最后，我们量化了生殖潜力（鸡蛋m ^-2），将繁殖力与牡蛎种群的年度人口统计数据联系起来，以此作为一种工程化的珊瑚礁，以评估种群的可持续性。雌鱼的比例通常随着壳高的增加而增加，比洛克西牡蛎> 75 mm和大岛牡蛎> 100 mm的种群中有> 50％。这两个地点和季节的产卵量范围从大约2,000到> 5500万卵牡蛎^-1。平均繁殖力通常随壳高而增加，随地点而变化很大，大岛（高盐度）牡蛎比比洛克西（低盐度）牡蛎具有更大的繁殖力。繁殖力随季节而变化。平均生殖潜力（鸡蛋m ^-2）由密度和尺寸分布决定。高密度和高规格牡蛎数量的珊瑚礁的繁殖潜力比低密度和低数量的牡蛎高5倍。随着沿海管理和气候对水质变化的不断加剧，对牡蛎繁殖的影响可能会严重影响种群的可持续性。繁殖潜能提供了关键数据，以评估单个礁石生态系统服务，并评估维持当地亚种群的潜力。