Abstract
The RECON project was carried out from October 2015 till September 2017 and was part of the INSITE programme wherein the INfluence of man-made Structures In the Ecosystem is being investigated. The project “RECON: Reef effects of structures in the North Sea, islands or connections?” was initiated to investigate and model species patterns and inter-connectivity of reef communities on offshore structures in the North Sea.
The main research questions of the RECON project were:
1. What is the species composition of marine growth on offshore structures such as wind farms and oil and gas platforms?
2. To what extent is this composition explained by abiotic factors (e.g. depth, temperature, location, platforms age, marine growth, cleaning frequency, et cetera) and biotic factors (e.g. food availability, proximity to marine growth on other offshore structures, distance to coastal populations, et cetera)?
3. To what extent are the communities on the structures isolated fr