Anthropogenic substrate as an artificial reef in the Baltic Sea with Fucus vesiculosus as a key species
2023 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Bladderwrack, Fucus vesiculosus is a key species in the Baltic Sea that provide habitat and increases biodiversity for macroinvertebrates, contributing to the overall ecological status of the Baltic Sea. Because of the low ecological status of the Baltic Sea and high sedimentation, leading to a substrate limitation for F. vesiculosus the macroalgae have decreased in biomass drastically. Increasing the suitable substrates for F. vesiculosus could contribute to restoring the population. The Kårehamn wind park (east cost of Öland, - Renewables Sweden AB) has 16 turbines, 79. 6 m high. Between the wind turbines, there are submerged cables weighed down with bags filled with macadam. This study presents an investigation of the size of the preferred substrate for F. vesiculosus and if submerged cables and bags of macadam in the Baltic Sea could be a potential substrate for macroalgae growth as a start of a potential artificial reef. Data was collected by: an inventory from the shore of Fucus individuals size, substrate size, amount of epiphytes, and, video footage of the submerged electrical cables and bags of macadam. The result of the inventory suggests that F. vesiculosus could potentially attach to substrates with the size of macadam (6-10 cm) without compromising its overall size of the canopy-formation. However, the video footage showed no evidence of any macroalgae attachment to the cables or to the bags of macadam. Instead, it seems that the submerged substrate does provide a great substrate for filamentous green algae and the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis. The sampling sites of the substrate inventory, Långviken and Stensö Flundran, had a significant increase in epiphytic biomass attached to F. vesiculosus with the size of the substrate rock. If the bags of macadam were to be combined with a larger variation of substrate rock sizes it would increase the chances of Fucus spp. settlement as the bigger substrates increase settlement opportunities for F. vesiculosus.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2023. , p. 30
Keywords [en]
Bladderwrack, Fucus vesiculosus, epiphytic algae, artificial reef, anthropogenic substrate, Baltic Sea, wind turbine platform.
National Category
Ecology Biological Sciences Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-122856OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-122856DiVA, id: diva2:1776288
Educational program
Biology Programme, 180 credits
Presentation
2023-06-01, Kalmar, 10:00 (English)
Supervisors
Examiners
2023-06-282023-06-272023-06-28Bibliographically approved