Poster Presentation 2024 Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting combined with NZMSS

Settlement Dynamics and Fitness of Marine Organisms on Artificial Habitats (#638)

Finn Gallagher 1
  1. School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

Rocky reefs provide key habitat for many important marine species in coastal environments, and are crucial to coastal communities. Human impacts - such as the addition of man-made infrastructure - to these habitats pose significant risks to the organisms that inhabit them, and therefore to the ecosystems that they support. Artificial habitats are often used to mitigate the effect of such impacts, or restore the affected habitat. The aim of this work is to understand the settlement dynamics of key fish and invertebrate species to artificial habitats, to investigate the ability of artificial habitats to support healthy marine communities, and test whether enhancements can be made to these habitats for better restoration outcomes. This is being done through the deployment, and rigorous monitoring, of several artificial habitats around Te Whanganui-A-Tara (Wellington Harbour). Enhancements to these habitats include the addition of vertical structure to mimic the presence of macroalgae on rocky reefs - attempting to attract increased settlement, and amplify restoration efforts in coastal environments. This project provides analyses on the dynamics of settlement to artificial habitats and the fitness of organisms occupying them, and overall assess the effectiveness of artificial reefs as restoration tools in a harbour environment.

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