Welcome to REEF
The Reustle Estuarine Ecology Field Lab
At Hampton University
Former REEF Lab Members
Lucia Ramirez-Joseph (MS)
Lucia joined the REEF Lab as a master's student at Hampton University in September 2022 where her research focused on community structure of restored and natural urbanized oyster reefs. Lucia is now a Ph.D. Student in the Nelson Lab at the University of Georgia.
Amira Layeni (MS)
Amira joined the REEF Lab in September of 2022 and examined the prevalence of microplastics on urban, temperate oyster reefs.
Former REEF Lab Undergraduate Members
Derrick Richardson (UCLA PhD program)
Pa-Shun Hawkins (UCLA PhD Program)
T'Kiyah Reeves
Reese Register (Peace Corps)
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RESEARCH
Currently, we are investigating the strength of top-down community regulation on urbanized oyster reefs and the extent of microplastic pollution in oyster reefs. Our previous projects include oyster reef community ecology, host-parasite interactions, barnacle and oyster recruitment dynamics, and phenotypic plasticity in barnacles and oysters. We are interested in species-interactions and how they alter the way communities form and function. Much of our work is focused on abiotic and biotic mechanisms that change the outcome(s) of species-interactions.
SENSORY MEDIATED MESOPREDATOR RELEASE
Building upon previous works from the Smee lab, I deployed predator-exclusion experiments on oyster reefs to determine if turbidity could cause mesopredator release. Elevated turbidity levels hampered the foraging ability of top predators (fish) allowing the proliferation of mesopredators and the ensuing overconsumption of basal resources (oysters).
Now published in Limnology and Oceanography: https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11452
EFFECTS OF TURBIDITY AND DROUGHT ON OYSTER REEFÂ COMMUNITIES
Extending on work from the previous year, we examined the interactive effects of salinity and turbidity across wet (2016) and dry (2017) years on oyster reef communities and oyster recruitment dynamics. Drought conditions short-circuited reef trophic cascades that benefited oyster recruitment by facilitating the re-emergence of a saline mesopredator. Can you guess which critter pictured here is the saline mesopredator?
Now published in Marine Ecological Progress Series: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13283
QUANTIFYING THE ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF HURRICANE HARVEY
Shortly after our field experiments in 2017, Hurricane Harvey (Category 4) struck South Texas and caused significant damage and flooding. We deployed several experiments to document and understand how the hurricane affected estuarine systems. See some of this work here:​
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30864-2
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-024-05592-1
PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY IN BARNACLES AND OYSTERS
Organisms respond and react to their environment sometimes altering their phenotype to better suit them in their environment. I study this process, called phenotypic plasticity, in both barnacles and oysters. In barnacles, I study their response to changes in flow metrics, while I study oysters' defensive response to predators. See some of this work here: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12075;
https://peerj.com/articles/15018/
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HOST-PARASITE DYNAMICS
Crab-castrating Rhizocephalan parasites cause significant changes in crab morphology and behavior. I am interested in how the parasite's larvae find suitable hosts and how foraging behavior may differ between healthy and infected individuals.
IT MATTERS IF YOU'RE EXPOSED
Environmental stress gradients, such as tidal emersion and salinity, influence biodiversity and ecosystem services. We are investigating how these ESGs affect macrofaunal and bacterial communities on oyster reefs within the Newport River Estuary in North Carolina.
RECENT UPDATES
July 2024- REEF Lab was awarded an HBCU-UP Catalyst Award to initiate research on oyster reef food webs!
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October 2023- REEF Lab and Collaborators were awarded a NOAA Sea Grant award with Marine Debris!
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August 2022- Dr. Joe Reustle is now a professor of Marine and Environmental Science at Hampton University!
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CONTACT US
Thanks for your interest in our research. Get in touch with any questions or comments regarding our work and publications. Wed love to hear from you!