Sessile epibiotic biomass on stabilised coal-waste and concrete artificial reefs

The Poole Bay Artificial Reef Project (PBAR) monitored the development of the first stabilised coal-waste artificial reef in the U.K. from its deployment in June I 989. This study documents the biomass of the sessile epibiota on this sublittoral reef at approximately monlhly intervals from July 1990 to May 1992. Biomass determinations were made to a constant weight at 80°C (dry weight) and 600°C (ash-free dry weight) following decalcification in 6% (v/v) HO (shell-free dry weight). The epibiotic biomass on concrete reef blocks was greater than that on fly ash reef blocks in IO out of 12 samples. The epibiotic biomass (g AFDW m·l on PBAR was compared to that found at other sites in the U.K., both on stabilised coal-waste slabs and tiles, and on a natural reef. The biomass of the sessile epibiota from the PBAR blocks was similar to that on a local natural reef, but was low compared to that found on free-standing slabs at the PBAR site and tiles in the littoral rone at Tal-y-foel, Anglesey, Wales. The epibiotic biomass on the bases of the free-standing slabs was very much greater than that on the tops of these slabs and on any faces of the reef blocks.