Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:31:01.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Long-term dynamics of fouling communities found on offshore installations in the North Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2003

P. Whomersley  and
G.B. Picken
P. Whomersley*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ. Present address: The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Services, Remembrance Avenue, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, CM0 8HA, UK
G.B. Picken
Affiliation:
BMT Cordah Limited, Kettock Lodge, Aberdeen Science & Technology Park, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, AB22 8GU, UK
*
‡Corresponding author: e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Inspection videos of four offshore platforms in the central and northern North Sea were used to study the development of fouling communities on clamps and guides of oil export risers over an 11-y period (1989–2000). Results from multivariate analyses (multi-dimensional scaling and analysis of similarities) indicated that distinct assemblages developed in different geographical locations. These differences were mainly due to the protracted development of the Metridium senile (Cnidaria: Actinaria) zone on the northern sector platforms. The vertical zonation of fouling organisms was similar on all installations, although the water depth at platform locations varied from 80 to 169 m, indicating that fouling organisms display a wide bathymetric tolerance. This study has highlighted the value of long-term data present in operational inspection videos for the study of fouling communities.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 83 , Issue 5 , October 2003 , pp. 897 - 901
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, R.S.K. & Hughes, R.N., 1999. An introduction to marine ecology, 3rd edn. Oxford: Blackwell Science.Google Scholar
Butler, A.J. & Chesson, P.L., 1990. Ecology of sessile organisms on hard substrata: the need to measure variation. Australian Journal of Ecology, 15, 521–531.Google Scholar
Butler, A.J. & Connolly, R.M., 1996. Development and long term dynamics of a fouling assemblage of sessile marine invertebrates. Biofouling, 9, 187–209.Google Scholar
Butler, A.J. & Connolly, R.M., 1999. Assemblages of sessile marine invertebrates still changing after all these years. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 182, 109–118.Google Scholar
Campbell, A. & Nicholls, J., 1994. Seashores and shallow seas of Britain and Europe, 2nd edn. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Clarke, K.R. & Warwick, R.M., 1994. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Plymouth Marine Laboratory: Natural Environmental Research Council.Google Scholar
Connell, S.D., 2001. Urban structures as marine habitats: an experimental comparison of the composition and abundance of subtidal epibiota among pilings, pontoons and rocky reefs. Marine Environmental Research, 52, 115–125.Google Scholar
Desroy, N. & Retie're, C., 2001. Long-term changes in a fine sand community of the Rance Basin: role of recruitment. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 81, 553–564.Google Scholar
Erwin, D. & Picton, B., 1995. Guide to inshore marine life, 2nd edn. The Marine Conservation Society: Immel Press.Google Scholar
Greene, C.H. & Schoener, A., 1982. Succession on marine hard substrata: a fixed lottery. Oecologica, 55, 289–297.Google Scholar
Hayward, P.J. & Ryland, J.S., 1998. Handbook of the marine fauna of North-West Europe, 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hughes, R.G., 1983. The life history of Tubularia indivisa (Hydrozoa: Tubulariidae) with observations on the status of T. ceratogyne. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 63, 467–479.Google Scholar
Kingsbury, R.W.S.M., 1981. Marine fouling of North Sea installations. In Marine fouling of offshore structures, vol. I, session I & II, vp. Marine Fouling of Offshore Structures Conference, London, 19–20 May 1981.Google Scholar
Little, C. & Kitching, J.A., 1996. The biology of rocky shores. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Menge, B.A., 1976. Organisation of the New England rocky intertidal community: role of predation, competition and environmental heterogeneity. Ecological Monographs, 46, 355–393.Google Scholar
Osman, R.B., 1977. The establishment and development of a marine epifaunal community. Ecological Monographs, 47, 37–63.Google Scholar
Pearson, T.H. & Rosenberg, R., 1978. Macrobenthic succession in relation to organic enrichment and pollution of the marine environment. Oceanography and Marine Biology. Annual Review, 16, 229–311.Google Scholar
Picken, G.B., 1986 Moray Firth marine fouling communities. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh B, 91, 213–220.Google Scholar
Sell, D., 1992. Marine fouling. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh B, 100, 169–184.Google Scholar
Turner, S.J. & Todd, C.D., 1993. The early development of epifaunal assemblages on artificial substrata at two intertidal sites on an exposed rocky shore in St. Andrews Bay N.E. Scotland. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 166, 251–272.Google Scholar
Underwood, A.J. & Anderson, M.J., 1994. Seasonal and temporal aspects of recruitment and succession in an intertidal estuarine fouling assemblage. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 74, 563–584.Google Scholar
Wolfson, A., Van Blaricom, G., Davis, N. & Lewbel, G.S., 1979. The marine life of an offshore oil platform. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 1, 81–89.Google Scholar
Zvyaginstev, A.Y. & Ivin, W., 1995. Study of biofouling of the submerged surfaces of offshore oil and gas production platforms. Marine Technology Society Journal, 29, 59–62.Google Scholar