Abstract

The installation of offshore wind farms (OWFs) adds artificial hard substrates into naturally soft-bottom areas, changing the local biodiversity. The turbine foundations are rapidly colonized by colonizing organisms, mainly consisting of suspension feeders that can potentially reduce the local primary producer standing stock. In this study, we estimated the amount of organic matter processed by colonizing assemblages of OWFs. We conducted a laboratory pulse-chase experiment, by offering ¹³C-labelled fragmented microalgae to PVC panels colonized by OWF colonizing fauna. The blue mussel Mytilus edulis showed the highest biomass-specific carbon assimilation, while the high densities of the amphipod Jassa herdmani resulted in the highest total carbon assimilation. By upscaling our results to the total number of the installed offshore wind turbines in the Belgian part of the North Sea, we estimate that these species can reduce the local primary producer standing stock in the area by ca. 1.3%. Mytilus edulis and J. herdmani communities colonizing offshore wind turbine foundations significantly increase carbon assimilation compared to natural soft sediment macrofauna inhabiting the same surface area (i.e. footprint of the turbines).

中文翻译：

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海上风电场区域硬质基质动物对有机物的吸收：脉冲追踪研究

摘要

海上风电场（OWF）的安装将人造硬质基底添加到自然软底区域，从而改变了当地的生物多样性。涡轮机基础迅速被定殖生物体定殖，这些定殖生物体主要由悬浮喂食器组成，可以潜在地减少当地初级生产者的存货。在这项研究中，我们估计了通过将OWFs移殖到群体中而加工的有机物的量。我们通过向由OWF殖民地动物群殖民的PVC面板提供^13种C标记的片段化微藻，进行了实验室脉冲追踪实验。蓝贻贝（Mytilus edulis）显示出最高的生物量特异性碳同化作用，而两栖动物亚萨（Jassa）牛群马尼的密度高导致最高的总碳同化率。通过将我们的研究结果扩大到北海比利时部分已安装的海上风力涡轮机的总数，我们估计这些物种可以使该地区的当地主要生产者现存货量减少约20％。1.3％。与居住在相同表面积（即涡轮机足迹）的天然软沉积物大型动物区系相比，在离岸风力涡轮机地基上定居的可食的Mytilus edulis和J. herdmani群落显着增加了碳同化。