Ecological succession of benthic organisms on niche-type artificial reefs

Abstract

As part of efforts to restore fishery resources and recover damaged coastal ecosystems, artificial reefs are often anchored on the seafloor in coastal zones, to provide new habitats for marine organisms. The aim of the study was to describe the structure of a community of benthic invertebrates colonising a niche-type artificial reef (AATN in Spanish). Nine structures were anchored at depths of 16 ± 1.5 m for 99 weeks (22 months) in the Area of Benthic Resource Management and Exploitation (AMERB) in coastal waters of the Region of Bio Bio, Chile. The results showed that, at 3 months from submersion of the NTAR, much of the artificial substrate remained bare and there were only low levels of specimens of Balanus sp. barnacles, showing mean coverage of 11.26%, and even lower proportions of Rhodophyta, with mean coverage of 0.34%. At 6 months, the presence of hydrozoans was seen, decreasing the coverage of the barnacles, which was aided further at 8 months with the arrival of barnacle predatory invertebrates. At 8 months, new benthic invertebrates appeared and competed for the substrate. These included sponges and algae. At 99 weeks, the hydrozoans dominated the substrate, followed by barnacles and Rhodophyta, the first colonising organisms, leading to colonisation by motile macro-invertebrates, mainly consisting of crustaceans, echinoderms and molluscs. The AATN artificial system provides an ideal substrate for the development of early ecological succession and the use of this technology should be feasible in the recovery process of habitat damaged by anthropogenic actions and climate change.

Comparative Analysis of the Ecological Succession of Microbial Communities on Two Artificial Reef Materials

“…The above factors might have resulted in the low abundance of macroalgae in this study. Barnacles are often observed among the pioneer colonizing species on ARs [ 4 , 45 ], whereas H. ezoensis was the pioneering sessile organism to colonize the ARs in this study. The study site is near an oyster aquaculture area that produces C. gigas in early summer, which may explain why this was the most dominant species colonizing the AR blocks from the sixth week.…”

“…Artificial reefs (ARs) are underwater structures that are either made of waste materials or are purpose-built constructions with the main function of protecting and enhancing marine resources and recovering and repairing habitats damaged by anthropogenic intervention or climate change [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. With the development of engineering techniques for AR construction, various materials have been used to build ARs, such as concrete, wood, metal, rock, plastic, clay, and fiberglass.…”

Enhancing reef fish diversity using artificial reef-building: A case study of coral reef rehabilitation on Nyamuk Island, Anambas Islands

“…Artificial reef-building, designed as the coral reef rehabilitation tool, has been assumed to increase the local fish population by enhancing and imitating rocky areas [11][12][13]. In this context, artificial reefbuilding could escalate the local production by providing additional critical habitat, increasing the carrying capacity of the marine environment around rehabilitation sites [11,14]. Therefore, it could attract juveniles to refuge and increase the abundance and biomass of reef fishes.…”

“…Artificial reefs have long been utilized to increase the ecosystems' rugosity, mainly in areas with low coverage of coral reef-building [11,14,20]. The complex design of artificial reef-building could help to restore degraded habitats and perform approximately similar ecological functions as natural reefs [21][22][23].…”

“…Furthermore, the artificial reef structure, scale, and placement play an essential role in determining their level of influence on the reef fish communities [23][24]26]. Although, a different method of coral reef rehabilitation could give different results, not only about artificial reef design but also coral fragment type, location selection, and coral fragment adaptation periods [11,14,21].…”