Artificial rockpools give new lease of life to south coast’s marine species - Bournemouth University
A series of artificial, concrete rockpools, bolted onto harbour walls in Poole and the Isle of Wight have provided a safe habitat for an abundance of marine life, scientists have found.
The findings show that this could be an effective way to improve coastal ecosystems by helping nature to thrive in urban ports and harbours.
A team from Bournemouth University installed 114 of the artificial rockpools – shaped like a typical bathroom sink - across three sites in 2020. For the past three years they have been monitoring the species that inhabit them and comparing the results to species residing on the sea wall.
“As our coastlines become more developed, marine species are seeing their natural habitats replaced by sea defences which are harder to colonise,” explained Jess Bone, PhD researcher at Bournemouth University. “Sea level rise is also compounding the problem and is squeezing their habitats into smaller and smaller spaces. We wanted to see if giving them more rockpools could offer them a lifeline in the face of these challenges,” she added.
Rockpools retain water during low tide which creates a vital refuge for marine life, providing shelter, food and a nursery habitat. Mobile species like fish and prawns can remain safely immersed in water in the rockpools when the tide goes out.
Jess and the team have spotted 65 different species making use of the 45 artificial rockpools installed on a seawall at Sandbanks, including the protected native oyster Ostrea edulis.
Other species found include crabs, barnacles, molluscs, small fish, sea squirts and 25 types of seaweed.
This compares to 40 species that were found in whatever cracks and crevices they could find on the harbour wall.
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Posted On: 10/05/2023