Welcome to REEF
The Reustle Estuarine Ecology Field Lab
At Hampton University
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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
Dr. Joe Reustle is now a professor of Marine and Environmental Science at Hampton University!
8/29/2022
JOEY WILL BEGIN TEACHING INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGY II AT JCSU IN SPRING 2022!
9/28/2021
SELECTED FOR ANCHOR PRESENTATION AT THE 2021 COASTAL AND ESTUARINE RESEARCH FEDERATION (CERF) MEETING. JOEY WILL BE PRESENTING ON THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS GRADIENTS ON OYSTER REEF FAUNA!
9/15/2021
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!