Temporal and spatial variation in adult and juvenile mobile fauna associated with natural and artificial coastal habitats

Abstract

Coastal habitats are important for commercially exploited and protected species of fish and larger mobile invertebrates. The addition of artificial structures within the marine environment has the potential to alter the connectivity between habitats and to affect metapopulations of a region. Baited remote underwater videos (BRUV) were used to investigate the spatial and seasonal variation in abundance of adult and juvenile mobile species associated with subtidal natural and artificial habitats within Poole Bay on the south coast of England in 2019. Metrics included the relative maximum abundance (MaxN), number of species seen (S), assemblage structure and size range of fish. Higher values of MaxN and S were recorded on artificial structures in the spring and early summer; however, this pattern was reversed by mid-summer and early autumn when more fish were recorded on the natural reefs. Yet overall differences in MaxN and S between habitats were not significant. Differences in assemblage composition between habitats varied monthly, but this was mostly driven by particular sites. Although most fish observed were juveniles, there were some seasonal differences in the size of fish using natural and artificial sites, especially bib (Trisopterus luscus), black bream (Spondyliosoma cantharus), bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and pollack (Pollachius pollachius). The artificial habitats in this region appeared to be important in certain months, so temporal studies of this type need to be incorporated within surveys, particularly those in proximity to protected areas.

Diversity, structures assemblages and production of benthic communities on artificial reefs, a comparative case study in the English Channel

“…Considering that the immersed structures were the same, the recorded differences of fauna trophic structure between sites may be induced by abiotic factors (hydrodynamism, salinity, temperature…) and surrounding communities present before the artificial reef immersion. Water temperature is known to influence the metabolism of a large part of marine organisms and may explained the lower abundance for every trophic groups recorded on both sites in winter [20][21][22]. These results tend to confirm the efficiency of such structures to create novel habitats and restore hard substrate communities.…”

No effect of nearby natural reef existence on fish assemblages at shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea

“…In this study, the juveniles of five species ( B. boops , D. vulgaris , S. cantharus , A. imberbis and C. chromis ) composed the majority of the wrecks fish assemblages. The higher juvenile fish abundance could be due to fishing mortality of larger (adult) individuals of commercially important fish (Hall et al ., 2021). Moreover, the comparison of juvenile fish assemblages of C. chromis between wrecks supports our hypothesis that the juvenile fish abundance is higher on DEY wreck where there exists a natural reef.…”

Spatial Distribution Pattern of the Mesozooplankton Community in Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area (RSR MPA) during Summer

“…According to recent studies, the sea ice concentration has increased in the last year, contrary to the recent climate trend [22,23]. However, extensive ice cover and remoteness present significant logistic challenges that hinder detailed scientific research in this area [10,24].…”