Byers Ecology Lab

Aw shucks, Who likes to eat oysters? These crabs sure do!

Grad student Matt Pierce is setting up 2 experiments (lab and field) to see how salinity affects consumption on oyster reefs.

Aw shucks!

Yesterday our summer undergrad interns Sofia and Will shucked lots of oysters. They examined each for macroparasite infection. We found boring sponge (Cliona app.) and pea crabs (Zaops ostreus). We will also be looking at how these parasites influence oyster condition.

Everyone, meet our new postdoc Dr. Shelby Ziegler ()!

Shelby is coming to the lab to lead a project examining the effects of multiple stressors on oyster reef structure, function, and diseases across the Georgia coast. Shelby's previous work focuses on marine conservation practices and the linkages between coastal habitats and fisheries species. Her favorite part of research working with students and introducing them to fieldwork and other new research experiences.

Shelby loves all fishes 🐟🐠🐡but has a special soft spot for Gag Grouper. These fish have a mottled coloring that varies from gray to dark green or brown. As juveniles, they will change colors depending on the habitat they are in.

New work from Byers' lab alum Rachel Smith and PhD candidate Jeffrey Beauvais finds that the structural traits of resident salt marsh influence establishment of range-expanding mangroves. Salt marsh height and density interact with the tides to retain more mangrove propagules.

There's nobody else I would want to buy all out all the chopsticks in the St. Augustine area with!

Read the article here: https://rdcu.be/cAcd0

Cute new friend Jeff made while taking a writing break today! Diamondback terrapins live in marshes but lay their eggs on higher ground during the summer. Thanks for the terrapin info Kristen!

Reminiscing on fun field work with Rachel Smith and Carolina Thornton! Drones are a great way to get high-resolution images to examine vegetation distributions! We used software to stitch these photos together into one composite picture of the landscape (last photo).

The warm weather has us reflecting on field work days and marsh exploration with on the Georgia coast!

5 reasons to visit your local aquarium on Skidaway Island UGA Aquarium on Skidaway island helps you understand the underwater world on the coast

Fieldwork isn't always photogenic. Sharing these great photos from 2016 for

We're just waiting for the weather to warm up again so we can get back out into the field.

Happy World Wetlands Day!

Here in Coastal Georgia, we have both fresh and saltwater wetlands that provide a number of ecosystem benefits, including serving as a buffer from storms and flooding, providing habitat for shorebirds, reptiles and amphibians, filtering out pollutants from stormwater runoff, and providing nursery areas for commercially important fish and shellfish species.

The Byers Lab wishes you a happy new year! Raise a glass/claw and toast to the new adventures that await us in 2021!