Biofouling and Climate Change

Poloczanska, Elvira S.; Butler, Alan

doi:10.1002/9781444315462.ch23

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Again, more work is needed to investigate the relative importance of these key biological processes in driving this pattern. The potential for oceanic warming to cause an increase in biofouling rates on artificial surfaces has been suggested previously, as microbial biofilm development may accelerate and aggressive fouling seasons may lengthen, particularly in temperate regions [16], [17]. Here, we observed greater fouling on warmer surfaces; an observation that could have major implications for the multi-billion dollar anti-fouling industry.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Turning on the Heat: Ecological Response to Simulated Warming in the Sea

et al. 2011

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Significant warming has been observed in every ocean, yet our ability to predict the consequences of oceanic warming on marine biodiversity remains poor. Experiments have been severely limited because, until now, it has not been possible to manipulate seawater temperature in a consistent manner across a range of marine habitats. We constructed a “hot-plate” system to directly examine ecological responses to elevated seawater temperature in a subtidal marine system. The substratum available for colonisation and overlying seawater boundary layer were warmed for 36 days, which resulted in greater biomass of marine organisms and a doubling of space coverage by a dominant colonial ascidian. The “hot-plate” system will facilitate complex manipulations of temperature and multiple stressors in the field to provide valuable information on the response of individuals, populations and communities to environmental change in any aquatic habitat.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Turning on the Heat: Ecological Response to Simulated Warming in the Sea

et al. 2011

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“…'marine heat waves') is increasing (Solomon et al 2007, Gille 2008. This has, and will continue to, impact upon human activities in the sea by influencing, amongst other things the distribution and quality of living resources (Perry et al 2005, Cheung et al 2010, ecosystem structure, resilience and services (Harley et al 2006, and coastal industries, such as aquaculture, biofouling and tourism (Brander 2007, Poloczanska & Butler 2010. Predicting the effects of sustained warming and other environmental change factors on marine biodiversity is a major undertaking for today's ecologists.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term in situ warming influences early development of sessile assemblages

Smale¹,

Wernberg²

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Increased temperature is arguably the most important facet of global climate change, as temperature influences processes across all biological scales. In terrestrial systems, the influence of warming on community dynamics has been investigated through field manipulations of temperature but, in contrast, there have been very few warming experiments conducted in the sea. Here, we used heated settlement panels to manipulate microhabitat temperature in situ for > 3 wk, to examine how short-term warming affects community development. We conducted 2 independent experiments in contrasting subtidal habitats in the Perth (Australia) metropolitan area, to determine the usefulness of the field-based approach and to examine consistencies in community-level response to warming. In the first experiment (Swan River estuary), a ~2°C warming treatment resulted in a lower space coverage of a tube-building amphipod and higher coverage of a solitary ascidian, Ciona intestinalis, which contributed to significant differences in community structure. In a second experiment (Hillarys Harbour), the bryozoan Watersipora subtorquata, spirorbid polychaete worms, and C. intestinalis covered less space on warmed surfaces than controls. This was associated with greater biomass of a colonial ascidian and widespread marine pest, Didemnum perlucidum, under warmer conditions, which overgrew and probably outcompeted other taxa. Our results show that community responses to short-term warming are variable and are influenced by individual responses of assemblage dominants. We discuss limitations of the study and highlight the importance of community-level, field-based manipulations of environmental change factors which examine interactions between all available members of the local species pool.

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“…As shipping and the number of marine anthropogenic structures continue to increase and predictive scenarios indicate that fouling pressure will likely be enhanced by global warming (Poloczanska and Butler 2010), the study of biofouling and its economic consequences have never been more in force. In this context, the present study only represents the starting point for future long-term monitoring efforts of biofouling communities in the Caspian Sea, a place where this topic has been thoroughly overlooked.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofouling in the Southern Caspian Sea: recruitment and successional patterns in a low diversity region

2019

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Biofouling assemblages have representative organisms from different taxa acting as a link in transferring energy in marine food webs and as complex structures that form new habitats for other species (Pinnegar et al. 2000, Relini et al. 2002, Krohling et al. 2006). From an economic perspective, the settlement and development of biofoulers on man-made structures lead to deterioration processes that demand high investments in maintenance and replacement activities (Yebra et al. 2004). Furthermore, biological descriptors (e.g., biodiversity) of fouling communities have been used as important tools in environmental impact assessment (Balaji and Rao 2004). Hence, numerous investigations on these assemblages have been conducted over the past decades around the world (e.g.,

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Biofouling and Climate Change

Cited by 16 publications

References 77 publications

Turning on the Heat: Ecological Response to Simulated Warming in the Sea

Turning on the Heat: Ecological Response to Simulated Warming in the Sea

Short-term in situ warming influences early development of sessile assemblages

Biofouling in the Southern Caspian Sea: recruitment and successional patterns in a low diversity region

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