Abstract
This atlas was produced as part of the ABIOP project on Accounting for BIOfouling through established Protocols of quantification. The primary objective of this 18-month project, launched in March 2017, is to improve the knowledge and monitoring of biofouling in order to increase the reliability of the input data required to correctly dimension and maintain Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) systems.
The primary objective of this atlas is to summarise the knowledge acquired on biofouling, and more generally on the communities of organisms living on the hard substrates available today in mainland and overseas France, with a view to foreseeing the problems generated by this phenomenon in the ORE context.
This atlas is based on an exhaustive as possible literature review, including A-ranked scientific articles, reports (internships, monitoring, studies), and publications presenting the results of studies conducted in French waters aimed at characterising biofouling and/or assemblages on hard substrates in the subtidal zone. This knowledge review provides readers with the available data on biofouling and on potential colonists. The availability of data from the analysed documents was mapped and the key information extracted and summarised in a short paragraph.
The atlas is organised into four sections (each relating to a different biogeographical area) and also includes background information to introduce the issues raised by biofouling for the offshore renewable energy sector, as well as a user guide. This document is thus designed as an illustrated, tailored review (scope of engineering) gathering the currently available knowledge on biofouling along the French coastline.