Understanding Benthic Productivity on Artificial Structures: Maximising the Benefit of Marine Renewable Energy Devices

Marine renewable energy devices (MREDs) constitute artificial reefs and have the capacity to host biological assemblages that deliver ecological services.  Understanding the performance of artificial reefs, in terms of productivity, has been identified as one of the pressing research needs in relation to the ecological impacts of offshore renewables.

Cuttings of the bioindicator bryozoan Flustra foliacea will be collected and redeployed to the Loch Linnhe Reef, a 6200 tonne multi-modular, purpose-built underwater experimental matrix located off the west coast of Scotland.  Variations in the growth of these colonies will be linked to variations in the food supply, as a function of flow interactions and sedimentation on, or within, a single reef unit (e.g. height on the reef), and between different reef units.

Renewable energy structures have many of the characteristics of artificial reefs. The Loch Linnhe Artificial Reef, completed in 2006, has been designed to facilitate research into the interaction between man-made structures and their environment, including potentially beneficial effects on fisheries and local biodiversity.