Anthropogenic structures and the infiltration of natural benthos by invasive ascidians

Anthropogenic habitats such as marinas and docks are focal points for marine invasions, but relatively little is known about the infiltration of nearby natural habitats by these invaders. To address infiltration by four geographically widespread ascidian invaders, we used a two‐step approach: (i) a field survey with equitable sampling in adjacent artificial and natural habitats in British Columbia, Canada, and (ii) a literature review, to infer larger scale patterns across species’ introduced global ranges. Our field survey revealed differential distribution patterns among the four ascidians recorded, with infiltration of natural rocky habitats by two species, Botrylloides violaceus and Botryllus schlosseri. We did not record Didemnum vexillum or Styela clava in natural habitats, though they were both recorded on adjacent artificial structures. Globally, these ascidian species are predominantly found associated with anthropogenic habitats including floating docks, pilings and aquaculture installations, but they have infiltrated natural habitats in some areas of their introduced range. The factors contributing to infiltration of nearby natural benthic habitats remains unclear, but determining which mechanisms are important for encouraging or hindering the establishment and spread of nonindigenous species beyond artificial structures requires survey and experimental work beyond anthropogenic habitats. Such work will aid our understanding of marine introduction dynamics, invasiveness, and associated management implications.     

防海胆食害藻礁的设计及实验研究

人工藻礁是进行藻场建设的重要手段,但由于海胆等食藻类生物的摄食,将会影响藻类的生长,从而影响人工藻场的建设效果.为解决人工藻场建设中海胆的食害问题,从礁体自身设计出发,实验设计了8种不同形状的藻礁,选用光棘球海胆和中间球海胆为实验对象,观察比较了不同形状藻礁对海胆攀爬的阻碍效果,实验发现:侧周面为锯齿形或侧周面缠挂多孔柔性材料的礁型可有效阻止海胆攀爬,起到防止海胆摄食礁顶藻类的目的.研究结果为人工藻礁的设计提供了参考依据.     

Effect of wharves on intertidal assemblages on seawalls in Sydney Harbour, Australia

Worldwide, urbanisation has resulted in extensive replacement of natural habitats with man-made habitats. In Sydney Harbour, Australia, approximately half of the natural foreshore has been replaced by seawalls. Many of these have wharves built over part of their length, which could affect intertidal assemblages on seawalls beneath the wharves. This was tested by sampling and comparing assemblages under and not under wharves in Sydney Harbour. Assemblages differed between the two habitats, with greater cover of macro-algae and abundance of grazing molluscs on seawalls without a wharf and, to a lesser extent, greater cover of sessile invertebrates on seawalls under a wharf. There was, however, considerable spatial variability among locations in composition of assemblages and the species dominating differences between the two habitats. The impact of multiple artificial structures in close proximity and the variability among apparently homogeneous artificial habitats must be considered for the management of urbanised estuaries.     

Benthic infaunal communities around two artificial reefs in Mamala Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

Non-fishery use of artificial reefs has been given attention in recent years. The primary concern associated with non-fishery artificial reefs is their effects to the surrounding ecosystems. This study examined the infaunal communities around two non-fishery artificial reefs (the sunken vessels YO257 and Sea Tiger) in Mamala Bay, Hawaii. Infaunal community structures at these artificial reefs were relatively similar to one at a nearly natural patch reef. A large amount of basalt gravel around YO257 associated with its deployment operation possibly had an effect on the surrounding community by increasing pore space. Polychaete assemblages were compared with existing data throughout the bay, and this revealed that the variation in sediment grain sizes and depths seemed to play some role in structuring the polychaete communities. Nevertheless, the infaunal communities around the artificial reefs were typical and within the range of natural variation in Mamala Bay, supporting their beneficial uses in ecotourism.     

The spatial arrangement of reefs alters the ecological patterns of fauna between interspersed algal habitats

Reef landscapes dominated by canopy-forming species are often irregular mosaics of habitats, with important influences on associated fauna. This study tested if differences in the ecological patterns of mobile fauna inhabiting interspersed (morphologically distinct) algal habitats were altered by the spatial arrangement of reefs of varying proximity to the shoreline. Specifically, prosobranch gastropods were used as models to test that: (1) there were differences in the ecological patterns (species composition and abundances) between three algal habitats (the kelp Ecklonia radiata, fucalean macroalgae, and erect red algae); (2) the magnitude of these differences depended on the position of reef lines (‘in-shore’ vs. ‘off-shore’); and (3) these effects were regionally consistent across a 4° latitudinal gradient (600 km of coastline) in Western Australia. The ecological patterns of algal-associated gastropods responded strongly to the presence of algal habitats with different physical structure at small spatial scales. Importantly, differences in assemblage structure (e.g. differences in total abundances) between habitats across the latitudinal gradient were especially accentuated on the in-shore reefs compared with the off-shore reefs, where a general amelioration of differences between habitats was observed, probably associated with a more widespread effect of stronger wave forces across habitats. Overall, red algae supported higher total abundances and species richness (per algal weight) compared to the other algal habitats, particularly on in-shore reefs. Patterns for individual species were considerably location-dependent, reflecting the natural variability of species across geographical gradients. In contrast, patterns at the assemblage-level were consistent, providing evidence for the existence of general rules underlying the assemblage-level organization of mobile invertebrates on subtidal reefs across this geographical gradient.     

Socio-economic aspects of artificial reefs: Considerations for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Artificial reefs are used to enhance recreational fishing and diving opportunities in the marine environment. Until recently, demand for artificial reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) has been low due to the high value placed on the natural ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and the abundance of fishing and diving opportunities it provides. In the GBRMP, where there are multiple stakeholder groups with diverse and often conflicting values and opinions, the deployment of artificial reefs will be a complex and controversial social issue. We review the available socio-economic literature regarding the deployment, use, and management of artificial reefs, and aim to identify and understand potential socio-economic issues and information gaps surrounding deployment of artificial reefs in the GBRMP. We also outline a strategy to guide decision-making and maximize the socio-economic value of artificial reefs should they be deployed in the GBRMP.     

Geomorphology and sediment dynamics of the Liyashan oyster reefs,Jiangsu Coast,China

Oyster reefs and their spatial patterns are deemed to change the local hydrodynamic condition and exert profound impacts on the grain size, concentration and transportation of suspended sediments. Meanwhile, high suspended sediment concentration often results in excess mortality among oysters. Oyster reefs are rare and vital ecosystem in Liyashan national marine park, Jiangsu Coast, China. However, urgent conservation efforts should be made on account of the drastic reduction in reef areas. To investigate the sediment dynamics and the geomorphology, two tripod observation systems were deployed and UAV aerial surveys with elevation measurement using Real Time Kinematic (RTK) were also carried out. High mud content (60%) was found in the bed sediment at the reef ridge, causing much lower drag coefficient than other recorded values of living oyster reefs, indicating the death of oysters and the degradation of reefs in Liyashan. Ridgelines of the string reefs at 45° to the current direction and high suspended sediment concentration in the water body (50–370 mg/L) that exceeds the threshold (200 mg/L), which would affect nutrient uptake efficiency and further result in gill saturation, decrease of clearance rate and associated deposition, were probably crucial causes of the death of oysters. The findings are useful for restoring natural oyster reefs and designing artificial reefs for nature-based coastal defense.     

How complementary are epibenthic assemblages in artificial and nearby natural rocky reefs?

The present study analyses the composition, structure and trophic function of epibenthic assemblages in two artificial reefs (ARs) 16 years after deployment and in nearby natural reefs (NRs), aiming at providing insights on the complementarity between both habitats. Current findings suggest that after 16 years the ARs (concrete blocks), located in southern Portugal, do not act as surrogates for NRs, as epibenthic assemblages differed between reef types in composition, structure and trophic function. NRs showed higher diversity and complementarity (i.e. beta-diversity) than ARs, evidencing higher redundancy. Higher heterogeneity within NRs was also evidenced by the multi-dimensional scaling analysis based on abundance, biomass and trophic composition. NRs presented higher abundance of molluscs and biomass of sponges, resulting in differences in the trophic function: suspension-feeding dominated the NRs, while within ARs there was an ascendency of carnivory. Although not acting as surrogates for NRs and provided that no adverse effects (e.g. establishment of non-native species) were detected, ARs may have a significant contribution for the increase of regional diversity, as evidenced by the highest complementarity levels observed between assemblages in both reefs.     

Changes in biotic and abiotic processes following mangrove clearing

Mangrove forests, important tropical coastal habitats, are in decline worldwide primarily due to removal by humans. Changes to mangrove systems can alter ecosystem properties through direct effects on abiotic factors such as temperature, light and nutrient supply or through changes in biotic factors such as primary productivity or species composition. Despite the importance of mangroves as transitional habitats between land and sea, little research has examined changes that occur when they are cleared. We examined changes in a number of biotic and abiotic factors following the anthropogenic removal of red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) in the Panamanian Caribbean, including algal biomass, algal diversity, algal grazing rates, light penetration, temperature, sedimentation rates and sediment organic content. In this first study examining multiple ecosystem-level effects of mangrove disturbance, we found that areas cleared of mangroves had higher algal biomass and richness than intact mangrove areas. This increase in algal biomass and richness was likely due to changes in abiotic factors (e.g. light intensity, temperature), but not biotic factors (fish herbivory). Additionally the algal and cyanobacterial genera dominating mangrove-cleared areas were rare in intact mangroves and included a number of genera that compete with coral for space on reefs. Interestingly, sedimentation rates did not differ between intact and cleared areas, but the sediments that accumulated in intact mangroves had higher organic content. These findings are the first to demonstrate that anthropogenic clearing of mangroves changes multiple biotic and abiotic processes in mangrove forests and that some of these changes may influence adjacent habitats such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. Additional research is needed to further explore the community and ecosystem-level effects of mangrove clearing and their influence on adjacent habitats, but it is clear that mangrove conservation is an important aspect of managing tropical coastal systems.     

On the Problems of Epibioses, Fouling and Artificial Reefs, a Review

Abstract. Artificial reefs in marine environments are in most cases submerged structures consisting of dumped waste material or specific constructions made with the purpose of enriching the local fish populations and other marine life to the benefit of recreational and commercial fisheries. Such structures are susceptible to fouling and will successively develop assemblages, which may or may not resemble epibioses on natural substrata. Studies of artificial reefs have focused predominantly on fish assemblages and have largely disregarded the development of sessile biota and their structural and functional relationships. In addition, most studies are from tropical or subtropical environments. To manage and understand artificial reefs, a whole-ecosystem approach is necessary, incorporating studies of all aspects of hard substratum ecology including both structural and functional variables. This review is an attempt to evaluate the present knowledge of ecological aspects of artificial reefs, emphasising the role of sessile hard substratum biota.     

一种人工鱼礁的水动力学研究与建设效果评价

针对舟山群岛的海洋环境和渔业资源等情况,设计了一种正六棱柱式人工鱼礁用于改善当地的海洋生态和渔业资源。选用反映鱼礁通透性的ε值和反映鱼礁附着能力的η值两个参数对人工鱼礁的结构进行评价,通过比较发现所设计的正六棱柱式人工鱼礁在具有良好通透性的情况下还能够为海洋生物提供更大的附着面积,满足设计需求。使用Fluent软件对鱼礁进行CFD仿真,发现鱼礁迎流面前部上升流的最大高度随来流速度的增加而增加,鱼礁后方背涡流的长度约为鱼礁高度的9.3~9.6倍,表明其具有很好的水动力特性。为进一步验证鱼礁的水动力学性能,在相同尺寸、相同水域环境下对鱼礁模型设计了水槽实验,与仿真结果相互验证,证明了正六棱柱式人工鱼礁水动力性能的有效性。最后采用实地调查的方法对正六棱柱式鱼礁礁区与箱形鱼礁礁区进行建设效果的对比评价,发现两种鱼礁均能对各自所处的海洋环境起到增殖作用,正六棱柱人工礁区的平均生物密度大于对比礁区的生物密度,证明了其良好的水动力特性对增殖效果的有效性。     

Habitat use patterns of the invasive red lionfish Pterois volitans: a comparison between mangrove and reef systems in San Salvador,Bahamas

The Indo‐Pacific red lionfish Pterois volitans is widespread both in its native and its non‐native habitats. The rapid invasion of this top predator has had a marked negative effect on fish populations in the Western Atlantic and the Caribbean. It is now well documented that lionfish are invading many tropical and sub‐tropical habitats. However, there are fewer data available on the change in lionfish abundance over time and the variation of body size and diet across habitats. A recent study in San Salvador, Bahamas, found body size differences between individuals from mangrove and reef systems. That study further suggested that ontogenetic investigation of habitat use patterns could help clarify whether lionfish are using the mangrove areas of San Salvador as nurseries. The aim of the present study is to determine temporal trends in lionfish relative abundance in mangrove and reef systems in San Salvador, and to further assess whether there is evidence suggesting an ontogenetic shift from mangroves to reef areas. Accordingly, we collected lionfish from mangrove and reef habitats and calculated catch per unit effort (a proxy for relative abundance), compared body size distributions across these two systems, and employed a combination of stable isotope, stomach content, and genetic analyses of prey, to evaluate differences in lionfish trophic interactions and habitat use patterns. Our results show that populations may have increased in San Salvador during the last 4 years, and that there is a strong similarity in body size between habitats, stark differences in prey items, and no apparent overlap in the use of habitat and/or food resources. These results suggest that there is not evidence an for ontogenetic shift from mangroves to reefs, and support other studies that propose lionfish are opportunistic forages with little movement across habitats.     

天津大神堂海洋牧场影响新生牡蛎因素初探

海洋牧场是维持海洋生态平衡、促进海洋可持续发展,以及满足人类对海洋资源需求的一种新兴技术和产业,海域中投放的人工鱼礁可以为牡蛎生物提供理想的繁殖和栖息生境。天津大神堂海洋牧场中已发现大量新生的牡蛎生物体,然而牡蛎的空间分布并不均衡,存在异质性,其影响因素尚未明确,需进一步探索和研究。本文立足于天津大神堂海域国家级海洋牧场示范区,基于线性相关和逐步多元回归分析,量化了礁体与牡蛎分布之间的相关性,明确了牡蛎分布的影响因素并识别了主次关系。结果表明：区域水深、坐底时长、礁体密度、牡蛎礁距离均对牡蛎生物量有重要影响,其中,坐底时长、礁体密度与牡蛎生物量为正相关,区域水深、牡蛎礁距离与牡蛎生物量为负相关,坐底时长、礁体密度及牡蛎礁距离等3 个环境变量对牡蛎生物量影响更为显著。本文研究成果可以为海洋牧场的建设和牡蛎礁的修复提供重要的技术支持。     

Can artificial reefs mimic natural reef communities? The roles of structural features and age

In light of the deteriorating state of coral reefs worldwide, the need to rehabilitate marine environments has greatly increased. Artificial reefs (ARs) have been suggested as a tool for reef conservation and rehabilitation. Although successions of AR communities have been thoroughly studied, current understanding of the interactions between artificial and natural reefs (NRs) is poor and a fundamental question still to be answered is that of whether AR communities can mimic adjacent NR communities. We suggest three alternative hypotheses: Neighboring ARs and NRs will (1) achieve a similar community structure given sufficient time; (2) be similar only if they possess similar structural features; (3) always differ, regardless of age or structural features. We examined these hypotheses by comparing the community structure on a 119-year old shipwreck to a neighboring NR. Fouling organisms, including stony and soft corals, sponges, tunicates, sea anemones and hydrozoans were recorded and measured along belt transects. The ahermatypic stony coral Tubastrea micrantha dominated vertical AR regions while the soft corals Nephthea sp. and Xenia sp. dominated both artificial and natural horizontal surfaces. Our results support the second hypothesis, indicating that even after a century an AR will mimic its adjacent NR communities only if it possesses structural features similar to those of the natural surroundings. However, if the two differ structurally, their communities will remain distinct.     

Low-crested coastal defence structures as artificial habitats for marine life: Using ecological criteria in design

Coastal defence structures to protect sedimentary coastlines from erosion and flooding are increasingly common throughout Europe. They will become more widespread over the next 10–30 years in response to rising and stormier seas and accelerating economic development of the coastal zone. Building coastal defences results in the loss and fragmentation of sedimentary habitats and their replacement by artificial rocky habitats that become colonised by algae and marine animals. The engineering design and construction of these structures have received considerable attention. However, the ecological consequences of coastal defences have been less extensively investigated. Furthermore, due to their rapid proliferation, there is a growing need to understand the role of these man-made habitats in the coastal ecosystems in order to implement impact minimisation and/or mitigation measures.As part of the DELOS project, targeted studies were carried out throughout Europe to assess the ecological similarity of low-crested coastal defence structures (LCS) to natural rocky shores and to investigate the influence of LCS design features on the colonising marine epibiota. LCSs can be considered as a relatively poor surrogate of natural rocky shores. Epibiotic communities were qualitatively similar to those on natural rocky shores as both habitats are regulated by the same physical and biological factors. However, there were quantitative differences in the diversity and abundance of epibiota on artificial structures. Typically, epibiotic assemblages were less diverse than rocky shore communities. Also, LCSs offered less structurally complex habitats for colonisation and in some locations experienced higher disturbance than natural shores. We propose several criteria that can be integrated into the design and construction of LCSs to minimise ecological impacts and allow targeted management of diversity and natural living resources.     

中山人工鱼礁区渔获物调查

使用刺网、手抛网和虾笼等渔具,分别于丰水期和枯水期对中山人工鱼礁区进行渔获物调查。丰水期调查表明,所选规划礁区位置是合理的,已试验1a的试验浮礁集鱼和保护幼鱼幼虾的效果明显;枯水期调查表明,首期礁区集鱼和保护幼鱼幼虾的效果更明显;首期礁区已成为良好的索饵场和隐蔽场所,成为附近海域渔业资源的摇篮和种苗库。大面积的人工鱼礁已取得明显的保护渔业资源和海洋生态的效果。     

试验水槽中多种人工鱼礁模型组合对紫红笛鲷幼鱼的诱集效果

摸清多种人工鱼礁模型组合对紫红笛鲷幼鱼的诱集效果,可为人工鱼礁礁体组合设计和礁区布局设计等方面提供科学依据.本研究参照深圳杨梅坑人工鱼礁区的实际建礁情况,制作并模拟4组三种模型礁体组合、4组四种模型礁体组合,在方形试验水槽中以鱼类行为学的方法研究了这8组模型礁体组合对紫红笛鲷的诱集效果.4组三礁组合礁体模型试验结果表明,FHJ三礁组合对紫红笛鲷的集鱼效果非常明显,BFH、BCG、CHJ三礁组合对紫红笛鲷的集鱼效果较为明显.其诱集效果排序为:FHJ组合礁(53.84%)>BFH组合礁(44.85%)>BCG组合礁(38.11%)>CHJ组合礁(36.01%).4组四礁组合礁体的试验结果表明,4组四礁组合礁体模型对紫红笛鲷均具有较强的诱集效果,其诱集效果排序为:BGHJ组合礁(52.27%)>CFHJ组合礁(51.26%)>BCGJ组合礁(50.01%)>BCGH组合礁(45.05%).总体上,四礁组合的诱集效果优于三礁组合,人工鱼礁建设的礁群配置以多礁组合为佳.     

Artificial marine habitats in the Arabian Gulf: Review of current use, benefits and management implications

The use of artificial reefs in the Arabian Gulf have a history extending back over a century, when date palm trunks, stones, pottery and other materials were sunk in coastal areas to enhance fish catch. Historically, such artificial reefs formed an important component of the socio-economic development of coastal fisheries. In comparison, modern artificial reefs have taken on a variety of forms. The most widely recognized are purpose-build modular artificial reefs designed for the enhancement of fisheries yield, diving, and various other benefits. However, far more common within the Gulf are the large-scale unplanned artificial reefs that have been formed as a result of human activities in the marine system, such as large-scale coastal breakwaters, seawalls, jetties, pipelines, and oil and gas infrastructure. Although there is limited information on the role of these constructions in structuring Gulf marine communities, increasing evidence suggests that abundant and diverse communities of reef fish, coral and other benthos can develop on these structures, with important ecological implications in urbanized coastal areas in the Gulf. However, due to a variety of unintended consequences of artificial reef development such structures may also pose challenges to coastal marine management. We review the current published literature on artificial reefs in the Gulf in order to improve our understanding of the role that these structures play in Gulf coastal ecosystems, and to further develop regional management of artificial reefs. We explore the various types of artificial reef that exist in the Gulf and examine the benefits and challenges that these structures represent for coastal ecology and economics. Such information is essential for our improved understanding and management of these increasingly important ecosystems in the Gulf.     

Material type and roughness influence structure of inter‐tidal communities on coastal defenses

On a global scale, urbanization has resulted in substantial proportions of coasts being replaced by artificial structures such as marinas, breakwaters and seawalls. There is broad consensus that coastal defense structures are poor surrogates of the natural habitats that they replace. Here we investigated the effects of the type and roughness of materials used for the construction of artificial structures on the surrounding biota by comparing abundances and distribution of key inter‐tidal taxa between natural shores and coastal defenses. Lower abundances of gastropods and barnacles were found on artificial coastal defense structures (regardless of the material type). At small spatial scales, abundances of key taxa increased with increasing roughness. Our results suggest that the choice of materials used for the construction of coastal defense structures has little effect on community structure per se, but that enhanced roughness could make coastal defenses better surrogates of natural habitats by supporting assemblages that are more similar to those found on natural shores.     

The case for restoration of tropical coastal ecosystems

At no time have humans so altered their natural environment than the present. Marine ecosystems have not been spared, and the degradation of coastal habitats has reached severe proportions in many parts of the world. The mere setting aside of areas for protection may not be enough to ensure adequate production and provision of services for a growing global human population. Hence, the active restoration of habitats, in addition to protection and preservation, is probably the more desirable conservation strategy. Accumulated experience over several decades has demonstrated that the rehabilitation or even restoration of damaged coastal ecosystems is feasible. However, the degree of difficulty and expense involved vary, with coral reefs being the most complicated habitats to restore, followed by seagrass beds and then mangrove forests. In ecosystem restoration, a comprehensive strategy based on sound biological and ecological principles, and proven techniques must be developed. A concrete, achievable goal must be articulated. Because of the dynamic nature of ecosystems, and the inability to accurately predict pathways of succession after a community is established through artificial means, subsequent modifications to a project must proceed within a flexible framework of adaptive management. Finally, for restoration efforts to be successful, local communities must participate actively in cooperation with local governments in accordance with the principle of co-management.