Abstract:To study the structure of organism attachment on artificial reefs made of different materials, we prepared artificial reefs with three types of materials: Ordinary portland cement(P), scallop shell portland cement (S), and iron plates(F). The artificial reefs were exposed to the marine environment near Shique Beach, Qingdao, in May 2017. We collected samples to analyze the effect of different reef materials on organism attachment on the artificial reef in July, September, November, 2017 and January 2018. The results showed that, in total, 69 species of attached organisms were identified. The numbers of species on ordinary portland cement, scallop portland cement, and iron plate reefs were 51, 53, and 31, respectively. The dominant species on the ordinary portland cement and scallop portland cement reefs were Caprella sp., Ostrea plicatula, and Mytilusgallo provincialis; the dominant species on iron plate reefs were Caprella sp., M. provincialis, and Stenothoe qingdaoensis. Biological attachment peaked between September and November. We found the highest average biomass of fouling organisms on scallop portland cement (4717.50 g/m2), followed by ordinary portland cement (2621.12 g/m2), and iron plates (163.85 g/m2). In July 2017, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′) of fouling organisms was observed to follow the order P>S>F; in September 2017, the order was S>P>F; in November 2017, the order was P>S>F; and in January 2018, the order was F>P>S. In July 2017, the Pielou evenness index (J) followed the order F>P>S. In September 2017, the order was S>F>P; in November 2017, the order was F>S>P; and in January 2018, the order was F>P>S. Our study showed that scallop portland cement attracted the largest biological species and biomass, and was most suitable for organism attachment. This study provides a reference for the evaluation of the characteristics of biological communities attached to artificial reefs and the selection of artificial reef materials.
