Millennial-scale societal shifts drive the widespread loss of oyster reefs in East Asia

Summary

Marine biodiversity hotspots are concentrated in Southeast and East Asia1 and are extremely vulnerable to, or have already experienced, widespread ecosystem degradation and destruction before baselines were established.2,3 Unlike many parts of the world, how ecological, cultural, and economic contexts interact and contribute to ecosystem degradation across Asia is fundamentally unknown. The unrealized loss in ecologically and culturally diverse Asia undermines global understanding of social-ecological change, as well as the relationships between communities, land, sea, and sustainability.4 However, extensive cultural records and historical archives are available from this region, and information stored within them could help reconstruct the extent of ecosystem losses. Focusing on the largest estuarine delta in southern China, we used documents spanning the last 7,613 years—through periods of imperialism, colonialism, and the modern era—to show that oyster reefs historically extended along at least 750 km of coastline. Millennial-scale overexploitation, alongside societal shifts, was central to reef extirpation by the 20th century, potentially encompassing >400,000 hectares of ecosystem loss. Although knowledge of these historical oyster reefs is absent in modern records,5 uncovering the existence of these once widespread ecosystems can provide ecological and societal history, which are critical for conservation and restoration success in Asia. Leveraging the deep cultural connections to tradition can be used to energize restoration efforts of these historically critical ecosystems.

Citation

Lau, S. C., Thomas, M., Williams, J. M., Thurstan, R. H., Hancock, B., & Russell, B. D. (2026). Millennial-scale societal shifts drive the widespread loss of oyster reefs in East Asia. Current Biology, 36(1), 217-226.