Preliminary evidence of early Reef Cube® enhancements to mobile benthic ecosystems

Author:

Hickling S J S,Murphy J A J

Abstract

Abstract Reef Cubes® are ecological engineering units, intended to restore biodiversity while serving functions to marine engineers. Ecological engineering must be backed by quantitative scientific evidence. Here, preliminary results of the Reef Enhancement for Fisheries at Aquaculture Sites (REFAS) project are presented. 11 Clusters of Reef Cubes® were deployed in June 2021. Sampling was undertaken before and after in the Spring and Autumn of 2021, in daylight and at night-time. Guided Baited Remote Underwater Video Station (BRUVS) surveys were completed with a modified BlueROV2. All mobile benthic and demersal species were identified during a 30-minute window and quantified in terms of Max-N. Biodiversity indices, rarefaction curves and multivariate community compositions were compared at reef and non-reef sites before and after build. Average species richness, Pielou’s evenness, Simpson’s and Shannon’s indices were similar between reef and non-reef sites. Seasonal increases of total abundance and total species were found, and these were significantly greater at reef sites. There were also significant differences in the community compositions of the reef and non-reef sites that were not observed before the build. These results are significant for the implications of using Reef Cubes® and indicate that Reef Cubes® could be a potential tool for biodiversity remediation.

Publisher

IOP Publishing

Subject

General Medicine

Reference35 articles.

1. Could a potential Anthropocene mass extinction define a new geological period?;Bacon;The Anthropocene Review,2016

2. Loss, status and trends for coastal marine habitats of Europe;Airoldi,2007

3. Using Artificial-Reef Knowledge to Enhance the Ecological Function of Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations: Implications for Fish Abundance and Diversity;Glarou;Journal of Marine Science and Engineering,2020

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3