What hap­pens when a drought in Florida estu­aries causes a rise in the salt levels in water? Fewer wild oys­ters appear on restau­rant menus, for starters.

New research from North­eastern Uni­ver­sitymarine and envi­ron­mental sci­ences pro­fessor David Kimbro and grad­uate stu­dent Hanna Gar­land, pub­lished in PLOS ONE, links the dete­ri­o­ra­tion of oyster reefs in Florida’s Matanzas River Estuary to a pop­u­la­tion out­break of car­niv­o­rous conchs and high water salinity—or saltiness—caused by a pro­longed regional drought.

This isn’t just bad news for oyster lovers.

“Coastal ecosys­tems around the world depend greatly on the ser­vices pro­vided by oys­ters,” Kimbro said. “They are impor­tant for the sta­bi­liza­tion of shore­lines, fil­tra­tion of coastal water, pro­tec­tion of impor­tant eco­nom­i­cally valu­able fishes and inver­te­brates, and the removal of excess nitrogen.”

As a result of degra­da­tion, over­har­vesting, and human activity, the global abun­dance of this habitat has declined by 85 per­cent, according to the Nature Con­ser­vancy. Today, most of the world’s remaining reefs are con­cen­trated in only six eco-regions—four in the United States.

“Luckily, there are gov­ern­ment and non-​​government-​​led efforts that will begin to restore this habitat in 15 dif­ferent states,” Kimbro said. “But if an area to be restored con­tains or is likely to develop an out­break of conchs like the one in Matanzas, then the restora­tion effort will fail, regard­less of the expen­di­ture of effort or expense, unless the salinity and conch problem is first solved.”

When one of these eco-​​regions expe­ri­ences an envi­ron­mental stress, like that seen in the Floridian estuary, the impact can be felt across industry and ecosystems.