Nutrient pollution is a global water quality concern for the marine environment. Restoration of natural oyster beds has been one approach to the nutrient pollution problem, and research suggests oyster aquaculture could provide equivalent or greater water quality benefits. However, the scale at which oyster farms provide ecosystem services is not well understood. Furthermore, there is a lack of data concerning site-specific effects of salinity on oyster filtration. This information is important in projecting site-specific impacts of climate change ( i.e., an increase in short-term extreme low-salinity events from rainfall events) on oyster filtration.
To address these issues, research was conducted concerning the role of farm and wild eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations in complementing existing nutrient mitigation efforts in the mid-Atlantic under two salinity conditions: contemporary and future salinity scenarios. Specifically, the project aimed to (1) estimate farm-level year-round filtration occurring at three oyster farms, (2) estimate bed-level year-round filtration occurring at one subtidal oyster bed, and (3) quantify the contributions of one oyster farm and the wild oyster bed to improved water quality under the two salinity conditions . Oyster filtration data were collected seasonally between July 2020 and September 2021 at each farm and oyster bed using a flow-through filtration chamber with ambient water. During each experiment oysters representing a range of sizes were placed in the chamber, from which, oyster biodeposits were collected to calculate in-situ oyster filtration and clearance rates. Filtration varied seasonally among farms such that warmer temperatures and lower organic content of seston were generally associated with higher filtration rates. Filtration rates generally decreased under low-salinity conditions (Figure 1) . These experiments provide a robust dataset of oyster filtration observed under natural conditions and may be used in a broader framework to inform potential oyster aquaculture contributions to nutrient management in the mid-Atlantic.