[Coral-List] Artificial Reefs - a different approach

[Shimrit Perkol]

Dear Listers,

My name is Shimrit Perkol-Finkel, I am a PhD student in Tel Aviv University,
Israel. My field of work is ecological and biological aspects of artificial
reefs.
I was following the ongoing correspondence on the subject for the past few
months and found it very interesting, although most of it focused on fish
communities while I study mostly corals and other invertebrates colonizing
ARs.
I would like to present a slightly different approach to the possible
contribution of ARs to the enhancement and restoration of natural
environments, based mostly on the findings of my MSc thesis and my ongoing
PhD research.
The main scope is that ARs may increase local heterogeneity and space
availability by adding novel habitats, increasing production and elevating
species diversity in the surroundings. This was based on a comprehensive
comparative study between ARs of different ages (10 to >30 years old) and
their adjacent natural reef communities. Furthermore, the study indicated
that the time frame required to develop a progressed diverse AR community to
be well over a decade, even in tropical ecosystems.
This approach taken is different than the general notion adopted by many AR
projects aiming to mimic NR communities. For further reading I would like to
refer those interested to two new papers that can be now viewed online:

I "Community structure of stony and soft corals on vertical unplanned
artificial reefs in Eilat (Red Sea): comparison to natural reefs"
S. Perkol-Finkel and Y. Benayahu

Coral Reefs:
http://www.springerlink.com/app/home/contribution.asp?wasp=9b6a7wvgtkdxrrnnt
dtx&referrer=parent&backto=issue,1,16;journal,1,39;linkingpublicationresults
,1:100407,1


II "Recruitment of benthic organisms onto a planned artificial reef: shifts
in community structure one decade post deployment"

S. Perkol-Finkel and Y. Benayahu

Marine Environmental Research:
http://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0141113604001540

I would appreciate any comments and ideas in the subject.


Sincerely,

Shimrit Perkol-Finkel
PhD Student
Faculty of Life Science
Department of Zoology
Tel - Aviv University
Ramat- Aviv, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel
972-3-6409090