TY - JOUR
TI - Epibenthic colonization of concrete and steel pilings in a cold-temperate embayment: a field experiment
AU - Andersson, M
AU - Berggren, M
AU - Wilhelmsson, D
AU - Öhman, M
T2 - Helgoland Marine Research
AB - With large-scale development of offshore wind farms, vertical structures are becoming more common in open water areas. To examine how vertical structures of different materials may be colonized by epibenthic organisms, an experiment was carried out using steel and concrete pilings constructed to resemble those commonly used in wind farm constructions as well as in bridges, jetties and oil platforms. The early recruitment and succession of the epibenthic communities were sampled once a month for the first 5 months and then again after 1 year. Further, the fish assemblages associated with the pillars were sampled and compared to natural areas. The main epibenthic species groups, in terms of coverage, differed between the two materials at five out of six sampling occasions. Dominant organisms on steel pillars were the barnacle Balanus improvisus,the calcareous tubeworm Pomatoceros triqueter and the tunicate Ciona intestinalis. On the concrete pillars, the hydroid Laomedea sp. and the tunicates Corella parallelogramma and Ascidiella spp. dominated. However, there was no different in coverage at different heights on the pillars or in biomass and species abundance at different directions (north-east or south-west) 5 months after submergence. Fish showed overall higher abundances and species numbers on the pillars (but no difference between steel and concrete) compared to the surrounding soft bottom habitats but not compared to natural vertical rock walls. Two species were attracted to the pillars, indicating a reef effect; Gobiusculus flavescens and Ctenolabrus rupestris. The bottom-dwelling gobies, Pomatoschistus spp., did not show such preferences.
DA - 2009/03//
PY - 2009
VL - 63
IS - 3
SP - 249
EP - 260
UR - https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Epibenthic-colonization-of-concrete-and-steel-in-a-Andersson-Berggren/c7dea4aee0b03db702b13c341d78170303881d1f
DO - 10.1007/s10152-009-0156-9
LA - English
KW - Marine Energy
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Fixed Offshore Wind
KW - Habitat Change
KW - Fish
KW - Demersal Fish
KW - Invertebrates
ER -