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"Durham & Dietl_Oyster survey data" Read Me
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STUDY TITLE: "A survey assessment of perspectives on geohistorical data among oyster restoration professionals in the United States"


STUDY CITATION: TBD


REGION & TIMEFRAME: These data were collected from a survey of oyster restoration professionals in the United States. The survey was conducted 20 June to 31 July 2013.


ABSTRACT: Conservation paleobiology aims to apply data from geohistorical records, such as fossils and their 
associated sediments, to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Integrating geohistorical data 
into conservation/restoration practice, however, has proved difficult. In order to better understand how 
geohistorical data can be more effectively integrated into the conservation/restoration of an ecologically, 
economically, and culturally important group—oysters—a web-based survey was conducted to assess the awareness 
and understanding of geohistorical data, and perspectives on their use in restoration, among oyster researchers 
and restoration practitioners in the United States.

The 97 survey responses demonstrate overall willingness to use geohistorical data in oyster restoration, but also 
highlight knowledge gaps. For instance, although many respondents understood some uses for geohistorical data, 
e.g. providing baseline information, few respondents mentioned others, such as reconstructing historical ranges of 
variation of ecosystem attributes. Respondents were also generally unaware of the full range of restoration metrics 
that can be measured from geohistorical records. The responses further suggested how geohistorical information 
might both reinforce and expand the information currently available to oyster restoration professionals. For 
instance, only half of respondents indicated that their baseline information pre-dates the 20th century, but 
geohistorical records of oysters can provide data on timescales ranging from decades to millennia. Finally, it is 
argued that to raise awareness of this underutilized information and address respondents’ doubts about 
geohistorical data’s completeness, precision/accuracy, and relevance in a rapidly changing, human-dominated world, 
increased collaboration between conservation paleobiologists and conservation/restoration scientists is needed.


DATA ATTRIBUTION: This dataset is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution license (full text available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
		  Please cite this work as: Durham, S. R. & G. P. Dietl. 2014. Durham & Dietl_Oyster survey data.xlsx. Cornell University Library eCommons Repository. Handle Here.


CONTACT INFORMATION

1. Stephen R. Durham, srd77@cornell.edu
2. Gregory P. Dietl, gpd3@cornell.edu


E-COMMONS COLLECTION CONTENTS
- survey data file (excel format)
- survey data file (csv format)
- .pdf file of web survey
- "read me" file


DATA FILE ABBREVIATIONS AND CODES
"#999" = Denotes an empty cell
"AK" = Alaska
"AL" = Alabama
"ASMFC" = Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
"CA" = California
"CB" = Chesapeake Bay
"CT" = Connecticut
"DAARP" = Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA)
"DE" = Delaware
"DMF" = Division of Marine Fisheries
"DNR" = Department of Natural Resources
"DO" = Dissolved oxygen
"(Durham & Dietl)" = Denotes a column added by study authors to categorize question responses during data analysis
"ERM" = Environmental Resources Management
"ESA" = Ecological Society of America
"FAO" = Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
"FL" = Florida
"GA" = Georgia
"GIS" = Geographic Information System
"GOM" = Gulf of Mexico
"GSASC" = Gulf and South Atlantic Shellfish Conference
"HI" = Hawaii
"ICSR" = International Conference on Shellfish Restoration
"ISSC" = Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference
"LA" = Louisiana
"MA" = Massachusetts
"MD" = Maryland
"ME" = Maine
"MS" = Mississippi
"MSX" = Oyster pathogen, Haplosporidium nelsoni
"N/A" or "NA" = Not Applicable (abbreviation entered by some respondents)
"NACE" = Northeast Aquaculture Conference & Exposition
"NC" = North Carolina
"NE" = Northeast
"NEERS" = New England Estuarine Research Society
"NERR" = National Estuarine Research Reserve
"NH" = New Hampshire
"NJ" = New Jersey
"NMFS" or "MFS" = National Marine Fisheries Service
"NOAA" = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"NORMP" = Native oyster restoration master plan
"NSA" = National Shellfisheries Association
"NW" = Northwest
"NY" = New York
"NYMBY" = Not in my back yard
"OHC" = Office of Habitat Conservation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"OR" = Oregon
"OSU" = Oregon State University
"PNW" = Pacific Northwest
"Q1"..."Q#" = Refers to Question #, where # is the question number in the survey
"RI" = Rhode Island
"S" = Salinity
"SAV" = Submerged aquatic vegetation
"SAW" = Stock Assessment Workshop
"SC" = South Carolina
"SE" = Southeast
"SW" = Southwest
"T" = Temperature
"TNC" = The Nature Conservancy
"TX" = Texas
"UK" = United Kingdom
"USDA" = United States Department of Agriculture
"USGS" = United States Geological Survey
"VA" = Virginia
"VIMS" = Virginia Institute of Marine Science
"WA" = Washington
"WQ" = Water quality
"WWII" = World war two