The PermaDesign Weblog, with Nate Downey and Melissa McDonald!

An Oyster’s Role

by Nate Downey

If European settlers had kept their mitts off of the American oyster, a significant portion of Sandy's storm surge would have been prevented by the reef-like structures created by 7,000 years of oyster growth and decay along the coast between Virginia and Maine. (Thanks to Erin English of http://www.biohabitats.com for passing this along!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/opinion/an-oyster-in-the-storm.html

Evidently, these subsurface walls of decaying sea shells also help keep the local sea grasses alive. I wonder if power would be back on in NYC if we'd allowed nature to do her job to protect the shoreline.

10/31/2012 | (0) Comments