Aim Restoration benchmarks often assume an undisturbed historic range of variability, if they include historic information at all. However, recent research highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of shifting baselines and how to best incorporate past variabilities in modern management. We investigate trends in oyster size through time (ca. 250–2024 ce ) and space (ca. 1000 km 2 ) in the Tampa Bay Estuary to unders...