Abstract Rapid urbanization has become an area of crucial concern in conservation, owing to urban infrastructure impacts on natural ecosystems. Urban infrastructures are often poor surrogates for natural habitats, and a diversity of eco-engineering approaches has been trialed to enhance their ecological value. Marinas are among the most common human-made infrastructures found on the shoreline, and cause substantial habitat destruction within the sheltered coastal areas previously used as nursery grounds by many fish species. The present study aimed at testing the suitability of installing artificial habitats (Biohut®) in marinas to reinforce the nursery function of the Marchica coastal lagoon, which historically hosts many species of juvenile groupers, including the endangered dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus. Our hypothesis – that artificial habitats, by increasing habitat complexity, enhance the ecological value of a marina – was strongly supported by our results. The Biohuts hosted a high relative density of juvenile dusky and comb groupers in comparison with natural habitats. They can, therefore, be considered as a reservoir for juvenile groupers, including the endangered dusky grouper, and are suitable to reinforce the nursery function of this coastal lagoon. Subsequently, Biohuts can act as a ready-made nursery area to support the creation of small marine reserves that can reinforce the grouper population re-colonization along the coast of North Africa, which is considered to be the region from which the individuals populating the north western Mediterranean originated, and thus provide for long-term recovery of the endangered dusky grouper.

中文翻译：

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利用沿海码头的人工栖息地促进鱼类群落的恢复

摘要 由于城市基础设施对自然生态系统的影响，快速城市化已成为保护中的一个重要关注领域。城市基础设施往往不能很好地替代自然栖息地，并且已经尝试了多种生态工程方法来提高其生态价值。码头是海岸线上最常见的人造基础设施之一，并在以前被许多鱼类用作育苗场的受保护沿海地区造成大量栖息地破坏。本研究旨在测试在码头安装人工栖息地 (Biohut®) 以加强 Marchica 沿海泻湖的育苗功能的适用性，该泻湖历史上栖息着许多幼年石斑鱼，包括濒临灭绝的暗斑石斑鱼 Epinephelus marginatus。我们的假设——人工栖息地，通过增加栖息地的复杂性，提高了码头的生态价值——得到了我们的结果的有力支持。与自然栖息地相比，Biohuts 栖息着相对密度较高的幼鱼和石斑鱼。因此，它们可以被视为幼石斑鱼的水库，包括濒临灭绝的暗色石斑鱼，适合加强这个沿海泻湖的育苗功能。随后，Biohuts 可以作为现成的苗圃区，以支持建立小型海洋保护区，以加强北非沿岸石斑鱼种群的重新殖民化，该地区被认为是北非个体的栖息地。地中海西部起源，因此为濒临灭绝的暗色石斑鱼的长期恢复提供了条件。