The Birth, Growth and Death of Intertidal Soft-Sediment Bivalve Beds: No Need for Large-Scale Restoration Programs in the Dutch Wadden Sea

Recruitment and fate of all 1436 mussel and oyster beds of the Dutch Wadden Sea were studied for the period 1999–2013. Cox’s proportional hazard rate model with covariates such as orbital speed, exposure time and bed size and type showed that large, low-lying beds that experience a low orbital speed live longer. Yet the most striking result was that oyster and mixed beds have a much lower hazard rate than pure mussel beds. Simulation studies, using the observed recruitment series, which was very variable, and the estimated survival curves, showed large variability in total bed area, implying t... Mehr ...