No Cover Image

Journal article 50 views

Artificial rockpools: Seaweed colonisation and productivity vary between sites but are consistent across environmental contexts

Veronica Farrugia Drakard Orcid Logo, Ally Evans, Tasman P. Crowe, Pippa J. Moore, Jennifer Coughlan, Paul R. Brooks

Marine Environmental Research, Volume: 188, Start page: 106022

Swansea University Author: Ally Evans

Full text not available from this repository: check for access using links below.

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106022

Abstract

Artificial structures are widespread features of coastal environments, but are poor surrogates of natural rocky shores because they generally support depauperate assemblages with reduced population sizes. This has generated significant interest in eco-engineering solutions, including retrofitting se...

Full description

Published in: Marine Environmental Research
ISSN: 0141-1136
Published: Elsevier BV 2023
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63461
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract: Artificial structures are widespread features of coastal environments, but are poor surrogates of natural rocky shores because they generally support depauperate assemblages with reduced population sizes. This has generated significant interest in eco-engineering solutions, including retrofitting seawalls with artificial rockpools to increase water retention and provide microhabitats. Although these have proven effective at individual sites, widespread uptake is contingent on evidence of consistent benefits across a range of contexts. In this study, Vertipools™ were retrofitted on eight seawalls in different environmental contexts (urban v rural and estuarine v marine) along the Irish Sea coastline and were monitored regularly for two years. Seaweed colonisation proceeded in a manner similar to patterns described for natural and artificial intertidal systems in general, consisting of early dominance by ephemeral species followed by the appearance and eventual establishment of perennial habitat-formers. After 24 months, species richness did not differ between contexts, but differed between sites. The units supported populations of large habitat-forming seaweeds at all sites. Productivity and community respiration of the colonising communities differed between sites by up to 0.5 mg O2 L−1 min−1, but not across environmental contexts. This study demonstrates that bolt-on rockpools attract similar levels of biotic colonisation and functioning in a variety of temperate environmental contexts, and could be considered for widespread implementation as an eco-engineering solution.
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: This research was funded in part by the Irish Research Council under the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Programme, co-funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. This work was undertaken as part of the Ecostructure project, which was part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Ireland Wales Cooperation Programme 2014–2020.
Start Page: 106022

Similar Items