Colonisation of wave power foundations by mobile mega- and macrofauna - a 12 year study

Environmental impacts from wave energy generators on the local mobile mega- and macrofauna community have been investigated in the Lysekil project by Uppsala University. Offshore renewable energy installations provide hard, artificial substrates, and as such, they could act as artificial reefs. Foundations with manufactured holes served as complex habitats and foundations without served as non-complex. In this long-term study, SCUBA surveys of mobile fauna in the years 2007, 2008 and 2016-2019 were analyzed. The results show a distinct reef effect on the foundations with significant greater species richness, total number of individuals, greater values of the Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index, and greater abundance of specific reef fauna. Complex foundations accommodated a greater abundance of brown crabs than non-complex foundations, other taxa did not show differences between the two foundation types. A successional increase of species richness, numbers of individuals and Shannon-Wiener biodiversity could be revealed from the first to the second survey period. Inter-annual variation was visible throughout all taxa and years.