Megan La Peyre, PhD
Assistant Unit Leader - Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
Research Interests
Megan's research focuses on estuarine ecology. Her lab is engaged in field and laboratory studies examining fish and invertebrate use of natural, restored and created shallow estuarine habitats including the ecology and ecosystem function of oyster reefs.
Teaching Interests
Megan teaches classes related to restoration of estuarine coastal systems, and natural resources policy.
Professional Experience
Assistant Unit Leader, Louisiana Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, 2000-
Education and Certifications
Ph D Louisiana State University 2000
MS College of William and Mary 1995
BA Duke University 1992
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 77
Nekton community dynamics within active and inactive deltas in a major river estuary: Potential implications for altered hydrology regimes
High fisheries production within estuaries is associated with coastal upwelling, tidal mixing, and land-based runoff facing increasing impacts from climate and human activities. Active river deltas receive large riverine inflows compared to inactive river deltas, providing contrasting estuaries to compare impacts of river inflow on estuarine nekton. We quantified nekton assemblages and stable isot
Authors
Caleb B. Taylor, John Andrew Nyman, Megan K. La Peyre
Effects of sample gear on estuarine nekton assemblage assessments and food web model simulations
Long-term fisheries-independent sampling data inform population status and trends of species-specific biomass and are often used to drive biomass-based food web models such as the Comprehensive Aquatic Systems Model (CASM). Indicators such as total biomass and mean trophic level derived from these data and from CASM outputs inform management and facilitate assessments of on-going and predicted coa
Authors
Megan K. La Peyre, S. Sable, C. M. Taylor, Katherine S. Watkins, E. Kiskaddon, M. Baustian
Defining aquatic habitat zones across northern Gulf of Mexico estuarine gradients through submerged aquatic vegetation species assemblage and biomass data
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) creates highly productive habitats in coastal areas, providing support for many important species of fish and wildlife. Despite the importance and documented loss of SAV across fresh to marine habitats globally, we lack consistent baseline data on estuarine SAV resources, particularly in the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) estuaries. To understand SAV distribution
Authors
K. E. DeMarco, E. R. Hillmann, J. A. Nyman, Brady Couvillion, Megan K. La Peyre
Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group monitoring and adaptive management strategy (LA TIG MAM Strategy)
The purpose of the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LA TIG) Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) Strategy is to outline an approach for the LA TIG to prioritize MAM activities in Louisiana for effective and efficient evaluation of the restoration of resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Working from the Restoration Goals and Restoration Approaches outlined in the P
Divergence in salinity tolerance of northern Gulf of Mexico eastern oysters under field and laboratory exposure
The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is a foundation species within US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) estuaries that has experienced substantial population declines. As changes from management and climate are expected to continue to impact estuarine salinity, understanding how local oyster populations might respond and identifying populations with adaptations to more extreme changes in salinity could
Authors
D.A. Marshall, S.M. Casas, W.C. Walton, F.S. Rikard, T.A. Palmer, N. Breaux, Megan K. La Peyre, J.B. Pollack, M.A. Kelly, J.F. LaPeyre
Oyster model inventory: Identifying critical data and modeling approaches to support restoration of oyster reefs in coastal U.S. Gulf of Mexico waters
Executive SummaryAlong the coast of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) plays important ecological and economic roles. Commercial landings from this region account for more than 50 percent of all U.S. landings; these oyster reefs also provide varied ecosystem services, including nursery habitat for many fish and macroinvertebrate species, shoreline protection, and w
Authors
Megan K. La Peyre, Danielle A. Marshall, Shaye E. Sable
Tolerance of northern Gulf of Mexico eastern oysters to chronic warming at extreme salinities
The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, provides critical ecosystem services and supports valuable fishery and aquaculture industries in northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) subtropical estuaries where it is grown subtidally. Its upper critical thermal limit is not well defined, especially when combined with extreme salinities. The cumulative mortalities of the progenies of wild C. virginica from fou
Authors
D.A. Marshall, N.C. Coxe, Megan K. La Peyre, W.C. Walton, F. Scott Rikard, J. Beseres Pollack, M.A. Kelly, J.F. La Peyre
Freshwater inflow and responses from estuaries across a climatic gradient: An assessment of northwestern Gulf of Mexico estuaries based on stable isotopes
Estuaries exist across a large climatic gradient in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, capturing a range of hydrologic conditions and estuarine functioning. We examined freshwater inflow, salinity, and stable isotope compositions (δ13C, δ15N) of oysters, suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM), and surface sediment organic matter (SSOM) from five estuaries across the hydrologic gradient. All fiv
Authors
D. A. Marshall, Megan K. La Peyre, Terrence A. Palmer, Gaël Guillou, Blair Sterba-Boatwright, Jennifer Beseres Pollack, B. Lebreton
Ecological engineering with oysters enhances coastal resilience efforts
Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to habitat loss, sea-level rise, and other climate change effects. Oyster-dominated eco-engineered reefs have been promoted as integral components of engineered habitats enhancing coastal resilience through provision of numerous ecological, morphological, and socio-economic services. However, the assessed ‘success’ of these eco-engineered oyster reefs remain
Authors
M. S. N. Chowdhury, Megan K. La Peyre, L. D. Coen, R. L. Morris, M. W. Luckenbach, T. Ysebaert, B. Walles, A. C. Smaal
Large-scale variation in wave attenuation of oyster reef living shorelines and the influence of inundation duration
One of the paramount goals of oyster reef living shorelines is to achieve sustained and adaptive coastal protection, which requires meeting ecological (i.e., develop a self-sustaining oyster population) and engineering (i.e., provide coastal defense) targets. In a large-scale comparison along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, the efficacy of various designs of oyster reef living s
Authors
R. L. Morris, Megan K. La Peyre, B. M. Webb, D. A. Marshall, D. M. Bilkovic, J. Cebrian, G. McClenachan, K. M. Kibler, L. J. Walters, D. Bushek, E. L. Sparks, N. A. Temple, J. A. Moody, K. Angstadt, J. Goff, M. K. Boswell, P. E. Sacks, S. E. Swearer
Dynamic Energy Budget modelling to predict eastern oyster growth, reproduction, and mortality under river management and climate change scenarios
Eastern oysters growing in deltaic Louisiana estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico must tolerate considerable salinity variation from natural climate variability (e.g., rainfall and stream run-off pushing isohalines offshore; tropical storms pushing isohalines inshore) and man-made diversions and siphons releasing freshwater from the Mississippi River. These salinity variations are predicted to
Authors
Romain Lavaud, Megan La Peyre, Justic Dubravko, Jerome F. La Peyre
Habitat suitability index model improvement recommendations
As part of the model improvement effort for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan, the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) models used during previous master plans were reevaluated to assess how the model relationships could be improved, and to determine what species should be included in the master plan analyses. This process considered the technical reviews, comments, and suggested improvements provided by m
Authors
Shaye E. Sable, David C. Lindquist, Laura D'Acunto, Ann Hijuelos, Megan K. LaPeyre, Ann M. O'Connell, Elizabeth M. Robinson
A Roadmap for Developing Resilient Coastal Shellfish Populations: Using Spatial and Process-Based Modelling for Restoration Under Current and Predicted Future Water Quality Conditions
Estuaries support valuable recreation, fisheries, and aquaculture and are dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems. Along the northern Gulf of Mexico, estuaries sustain local economies through their high productivity. They also receive over 50% of the United States watershed discharge, and water quality within these estuaries is impacted by local management actions. Within these estuaries, eas
Model Improvements for Louisiana’s 2023 Coastal Master Plan
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s Coastal Master Plan is a blueprint for responding to environmental changes. As part of the agency’s continued engagement, USGS supports model developments and improvements for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan.
Eastern oyster Dynamic Energy Budget model outputs under current (2014-2020) and projected (2041-2050) temperature and salinity conditions in Texas and Louisiana estuaries and along northern Gulf of Mexico coast
Compilation of all outputs from the modeling study presented in Lavaud et al. (2023; IP-156006). In this study a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model for the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, was run under different scenarios of current (2014–2020) and future (2041–2050) temperature and salinity conditions across six key Texas and Louisiana estuaries to derive an aquaculture index, based on surv
Bio-engineered oyster reef monitoring, Eloi Bay, Louisiana, 2017-2019
This dataset includes annual encrusting organism (oyster, mussel, barnacle) counts and density (ind m-2), and oyster shell height (mm) data for five bio-engineered reef designs: OysterbreakTM (OB), Wave Attenuating Device (WAD), Reef Ball (rows of two, RFB2; rows of three, RFB3), ReefBLK? (RBL), and ShoreJAX (JAX). Data were collected during winter months (i.e., December-January) in 2017, 2018, an
Seagrass habitat suitability modeling for the Alabama Barrier Island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island
A barrier island seagrass habitat suitability index (HSI) model was developed for the Alabama barrier island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island. Shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) was selected as the representative species for seagrass community near Dauphin Island waters since H. wrightii is the dominant species (>62%) of seagrass communities in this area due to its rapid growth and tolerance
Oyster habitat suitability modeling for the Alabama Barrier Island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island
A spatially explicit oyster habitat suitability index (HSI) model was developed for the Alabama barrier island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island. Based on previous oyster habitat suitability studies, seven water quality variables were selected and their relationships with habitat suitability were developed and incorporated into the oyster HSI model for Dauphin Island restoration assessment:
Seed biomass from shallow coastal water areas along a salinity gradient in Barataria Bay, Louisiana (2015)
This dataset provides bi-monthly data on seed biomass collected in shallow water habitats across the fresh to saline gradient at coastal sites in Barataria Bay, Louisiana.
Seed biomass from shallow coastal water areas from Texas through Alabama, 2013-2015
This projects primary goal was to provide data on biomass of potential seed resources located within shallow water coastal areas within fresh to saline coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. The data set provides biomass of seeds, by species or lowest practical taxon from 2013, 2014 and 2015 across 384 randomly selected sites located in shallow water coastal areas. The data were collected
Sediment carbon, submerged aquatic vegetation and environmental variables in deltaic southeast Louisiana (2015-2016)
These present data on sediment carbon from soil cores taken from within submerged aquatic vegetation beds from fresh to saline coastal locations in southeast Louisiana. Water quality, site location, vegetation biomass and species composition are recorded.
Data for Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment
This USGS Data Release represents geospatial and tabular data for the Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment Project. The data release was produced in compliance with the new 'open data' requirements as way to make the scientific products associated with USGS research efforts and publications available to the public. The dataset consists of 2 separate items:
1. Vulnerability assessment data for ha
Submerged aquatic vegetation and environmental data for coastal areas from Texas through Alabama, 2013-2015
This projects primary goal was to provide data on occurrence and abundance of SAV resources within the fresh to saline coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, and to relate these findings to key environmental variables. The data set provides the collected data from 2013, 2014 and 2015 on site location, discrete water quality, aquatic vegetation cover and biomass by species. The same 384 sit
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 77
Nekton community dynamics within active and inactive deltas in a major river estuary: Potential implications for altered hydrology regimes
High fisheries production within estuaries is associated with coastal upwelling, tidal mixing, and land-based runoff facing increasing impacts from climate and human activities. Active river deltas receive large riverine inflows compared to inactive river deltas, providing contrasting estuaries to compare impacts of river inflow on estuarine nekton. We quantified nekton assemblages and stable isotAuthorsCaleb B. Taylor, John Andrew Nyman, Megan K. La PeyreEffects of sample gear on estuarine nekton assemblage assessments and food web model simulations
Long-term fisheries-independent sampling data inform population status and trends of species-specific biomass and are often used to drive biomass-based food web models such as the Comprehensive Aquatic Systems Model (CASM). Indicators such as total biomass and mean trophic level derived from these data and from CASM outputs inform management and facilitate assessments of on-going and predicted coaAuthorsMegan K. La Peyre, S. Sable, C. M. Taylor, Katherine S. Watkins, E. Kiskaddon, M. BaustianDefining aquatic habitat zones across northern Gulf of Mexico estuarine gradients through submerged aquatic vegetation species assemblage and biomass data
Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) creates highly productive habitats in coastal areas, providing support for many important species of fish and wildlife. Despite the importance and documented loss of SAV across fresh to marine habitats globally, we lack consistent baseline data on estuarine SAV resources, particularly in the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) estuaries. To understand SAV distributionAuthorsK. E. DeMarco, E. R. Hillmann, J. A. Nyman, Brady Couvillion, Megan K. La PeyreLouisiana Trustee Implementation Group monitoring and adaptive management strategy (LA TIG MAM Strategy)
The purpose of the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LA TIG) Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) Strategy is to outline an approach for the LA TIG to prioritize MAM activities in Louisiana for effective and efficient evaluation of the restoration of resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Working from the Restoration Goals and Restoration Approaches outlined in the PDivergence in salinity tolerance of northern Gulf of Mexico eastern oysters under field and laboratory exposure
The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is a foundation species within US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) estuaries that has experienced substantial population declines. As changes from management and climate are expected to continue to impact estuarine salinity, understanding how local oyster populations might respond and identifying populations with adaptations to more extreme changes in salinity couldAuthorsD.A. Marshall, S.M. Casas, W.C. Walton, F.S. Rikard, T.A. Palmer, N. Breaux, Megan K. La Peyre, J.B. Pollack, M.A. Kelly, J.F. LaPeyreOyster model inventory: Identifying critical data and modeling approaches to support restoration of oyster reefs in coastal U.S. Gulf of Mexico waters
Executive SummaryAlong the coast of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) plays important ecological and economic roles. Commercial landings from this region account for more than 50 percent of all U.S. landings; these oyster reefs also provide varied ecosystem services, including nursery habitat for many fish and macroinvertebrate species, shoreline protection, and wAuthorsMegan K. La Peyre, Danielle A. Marshall, Shaye E. SableTolerance of northern Gulf of Mexico eastern oysters to chronic warming at extreme salinities
The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, provides critical ecosystem services and supports valuable fishery and aquaculture industries in northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) subtropical estuaries where it is grown subtidally. Its upper critical thermal limit is not well defined, especially when combined with extreme salinities. The cumulative mortalities of the progenies of wild C. virginica from fouAuthorsD.A. Marshall, N.C. Coxe, Megan K. La Peyre, W.C. Walton, F. Scott Rikard, J. Beseres Pollack, M.A. Kelly, J.F. La PeyreFreshwater inflow and responses from estuaries across a climatic gradient: An assessment of northwestern Gulf of Mexico estuaries based on stable isotopes
Estuaries exist across a large climatic gradient in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, capturing a range of hydrologic conditions and estuarine functioning. We examined freshwater inflow, salinity, and stable isotope compositions (δ13C, δ15N) of oysters, suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM), and surface sediment organic matter (SSOM) from five estuaries across the hydrologic gradient. All fivAuthorsD. A. Marshall, Megan K. La Peyre, Terrence A. Palmer, Gaël Guillou, Blair Sterba-Boatwright, Jennifer Beseres Pollack, B. LebretonEcological engineering with oysters enhances coastal resilience efforts
Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to habitat loss, sea-level rise, and other climate change effects. Oyster-dominated eco-engineered reefs have been promoted as integral components of engineered habitats enhancing coastal resilience through provision of numerous ecological, morphological, and socio-economic services. However, the assessed ‘success’ of these eco-engineered oyster reefs remainAuthorsM. S. N. Chowdhury, Megan K. La Peyre, L. D. Coen, R. L. Morris, M. W. Luckenbach, T. Ysebaert, B. Walles, A. C. SmaalLarge-scale variation in wave attenuation of oyster reef living shorelines and the influence of inundation duration
One of the paramount goals of oyster reef living shorelines is to achieve sustained and adaptive coastal protection, which requires meeting ecological (i.e., develop a self-sustaining oyster population) and engineering (i.e., provide coastal defense) targets. In a large-scale comparison along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, the efficacy of various designs of oyster reef living sAuthorsR. L. Morris, Megan K. La Peyre, B. M. Webb, D. A. Marshall, D. M. Bilkovic, J. Cebrian, G. McClenachan, K. M. Kibler, L. J. Walters, D. Bushek, E. L. Sparks, N. A. Temple, J. A. Moody, K. Angstadt, J. Goff, M. K. Boswell, P. E. Sacks, S. E. SwearerDynamic Energy Budget modelling to predict eastern oyster growth, reproduction, and mortality under river management and climate change scenarios
Eastern oysters growing in deltaic Louisiana estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico must tolerate considerable salinity variation from natural climate variability (e.g., rainfall and stream run-off pushing isohalines offshore; tropical storms pushing isohalines inshore) and man-made diversions and siphons releasing freshwater from the Mississippi River. These salinity variations are predicted toAuthorsRomain Lavaud, Megan La Peyre, Justic Dubravko, Jerome F. La PeyreHabitat suitability index model improvement recommendations
As part of the model improvement effort for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan, the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) models used during previous master plans were reevaluated to assess how the model relationships could be improved, and to determine what species should be included in the master plan analyses. This process considered the technical reviews, comments, and suggested improvements provided by mAuthorsShaye E. Sable, David C. Lindquist, Laura D'Acunto, Ann Hijuelos, Megan K. LaPeyre, Ann M. O'Connell, Elizabeth M. Robinson - Science
A Roadmap for Developing Resilient Coastal Shellfish Populations: Using Spatial and Process-Based Modelling for Restoration Under Current and Predicted Future Water Quality Conditions
Estuaries support valuable recreation, fisheries, and aquaculture and are dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems. Along the northern Gulf of Mexico, estuaries sustain local economies through their high productivity. They also receive over 50% of the United States watershed discharge, and water quality within these estuaries is impacted by local management actions. Within these estuaries, easModel Improvements for Louisiana’s 2023 Coastal Master Plan
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s Coastal Master Plan is a blueprint for responding to environmental changes. As part of the agency’s continued engagement, USGS supports model developments and improvements for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan. - Data
Eastern oyster Dynamic Energy Budget model outputs under current (2014-2020) and projected (2041-2050) temperature and salinity conditions in Texas and Louisiana estuaries and along northern Gulf of Mexico coast
Compilation of all outputs from the modeling study presented in Lavaud et al. (2023; IP-156006). In this study a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model for the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, was run under different scenarios of current (2014–2020) and future (2041–2050) temperature and salinity conditions across six key Texas and Louisiana estuaries to derive an aquaculture index, based on survBio-engineered oyster reef monitoring, Eloi Bay, Louisiana, 2017-2019
This dataset includes annual encrusting organism (oyster, mussel, barnacle) counts and density (ind m-2), and oyster shell height (mm) data for five bio-engineered reef designs: OysterbreakTM (OB), Wave Attenuating Device (WAD), Reef Ball (rows of two, RFB2; rows of three, RFB3), ReefBLK? (RBL), and ShoreJAX (JAX). Data were collected during winter months (i.e., December-January) in 2017, 2018, anSeagrass habitat suitability modeling for the Alabama Barrier Island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island
A barrier island seagrass habitat suitability index (HSI) model was developed for the Alabama barrier island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island. Shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) was selected as the representative species for seagrass community near Dauphin Island waters since H. wrightii is the dominant species (>62%) of seagrass communities in this area due to its rapid growth and toleranceOyster habitat suitability modeling for the Alabama Barrier Island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island
A spatially explicit oyster habitat suitability index (HSI) model was developed for the Alabama barrier island restoration assessment at Dauphin Island. Based on previous oyster habitat suitability studies, seven water quality variables were selected and their relationships with habitat suitability were developed and incorporated into the oyster HSI model for Dauphin Island restoration assessment:Seed biomass from shallow coastal water areas along a salinity gradient in Barataria Bay, Louisiana (2015)
This dataset provides bi-monthly data on seed biomass collected in shallow water habitats across the fresh to saline gradient at coastal sites in Barataria Bay, Louisiana.Seed biomass from shallow coastal water areas from Texas through Alabama, 2013-2015
This projects primary goal was to provide data on biomass of potential seed resources located within shallow water coastal areas within fresh to saline coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. The data set provides biomass of seeds, by species or lowest practical taxon from 2013, 2014 and 2015 across 384 randomly selected sites located in shallow water coastal areas. The data were collectedSediment carbon, submerged aquatic vegetation and environmental variables in deltaic southeast Louisiana (2015-2016)
These present data on sediment carbon from soil cores taken from within submerged aquatic vegetation beds from fresh to saline coastal locations in southeast Louisiana. Water quality, site location, vegetation biomass and species composition are recorded.Data for Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment
This USGS Data Release represents geospatial and tabular data for the Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment Project. The data release was produced in compliance with the new 'open data' requirements as way to make the scientific products associated with USGS research efforts and publications available to the public. The dataset consists of 2 separate items: 1. Vulnerability assessment data for haSubmerged aquatic vegetation and environmental data for coastal areas from Texas through Alabama, 2013-2015
This projects primary goal was to provide data on occurrence and abundance of SAV resources within the fresh to saline coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico, and to relate these findings to key environmental variables. The data set provides the collected data from 2013, 2014 and 2015 on site location, discrete water quality, aquatic vegetation cover and biomass by species. The same 384 sit