M4.1 Submerged artificial structures

M4. Anthropogenic marine biome

M4

Profile summary

Full profile at https://global-ecosystems.org/explore/groups/M4.1

Brief description

Submerged structures, including rubble piles, ship wrecks, oil and gas infrastructure and artificial reefs provide vertically oriented hard substrates for marine organisms in coastal waters worldwide. Sedentary filter feeders like sponges and barnacles take advantage of access to plankton in ocean currents. Their excretions support high abundances of other invertebrates and fish, while organisms beneath the structures feed on nutrients falling to the bottom, particularly after storm events. Some types of structure increase exposure to light, noise and chemical pollution and may promote the spread of invasive species.

Key features

Hard surfaces of oil and gas infrastructure, artificial reefs and wrecks form habitat for sessile filter feeders, invertebrates and some reef fish..

Overview of distribution

Coastal waters globally.

Map description

Marine ecoregions that include occurrences of submerged artificial structures were identified by overlaying a mapped distribution of shipwrecks (Monfils 2004) on marine ecoregions (Spalding et al. 2008). Occurrences were converted to 30arc second spatial resolution. In many cases these ecoregions encompassed other submerged structures such as energy infrastructure. To represent uncertainty, indicative distributions were mapped as minor occurrences..

Map code and version: M4.1.web.orig v1.0. DOI

Version history

Profile versions

  • v2.1 (2022-04-06): IM Suthers; JT Claisse; TP Crowe; DA Keith.1
  • v2.01 (NA): NA.
  • v2.0 (2020-06-15): IM Suthers; JT Claisse; TP Crowe; DA Keith.
  • v1.0 (2020-01-20): IM Suthers; DA Keith.

Available maps

Read more details about the current map versions here.

  • Indicative Map (code: M4.1.IM.orig, version v1.0)
  • Web navigation (code: M4.1.web.orig, version v1.0)

Read more details about older or alternative versions of maps for this functional group.

  • Web navigation: in preparation (code: M4.1.WM.nwx, version v1.0)

References

Main references

References used in the different versions of the profiles.

  • Champion C, Suthers IM, Smith JA (2015) Zooplanktivory is a key process for fish production on a coastal artificial reef Marine Ecology Progress Series 541:1-14 DOI:10.3354/meps11529
  • Claisse JT, Pondella DJ, Love M, Zahn LA, Williams CM, Williams JP, Bull AS (2014) Oil platforms off California are among the most productive marine fish habitats globally Proc Natl Acad Sci. USA 111:15462–15467 DOI:10.1073/pnas.1411477111
  • Lima JS., Zalmo, R, Love M (2019) Overview and trends of ecological and socioeconomic research on artificial reefs Marine Environmental Research 145, 81-96
  • Scarborough Bull A, Love MS (2020) Worldwide oil and gas platform decommissioning: A review of practices and reefing options Ocean and Coastal Management 168, 274–306

Map references

References used in the different versions of the maps (current and discarded).

  • Rean Monfils (2005) The global risk of marine pollution from WWII shipwrecks: Examples from the Seven Seas International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings May 2005, Vol. 2005, No. 1, pp. 1049-1054. PDF from Sea Australia, Civic DOI:10.7901/2169-3358-2005-1-1049
  • VIIRS Day/Night Band Nighttime Lights, Version 1; Earth Observation Group, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Data-set
  • Spalding MD, Fox HE, Allen GR, Davidson N, Ferdaña ZA, Finlayson M, Halpern BS, Jorge MA, Lombana A, Lourie SA, Martin KD, McManus E, Molnar J, Recchia CA, Robertson J (2007) Marine ecoregions of the world: a bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. Bioscience 57: 573–583. DOI:10.1641/B570707

Footnotes

  1. This is the current version available at official site.↩︎