Riff-Forschung

Krone - Projekte bietet als ein Schwerpunkt die Untersuchung künstlicher und natürlicher Riffe an. Dieser Bereich umfasst Untersuchungen der Biozönosen, der Riff-Effekte und der Ökololgie der Riff-Organsimen.

 

Reefs and artificial reefs

In a biological sense, reefs are self-growing structures which follow sea level fluctuations to a certain degree and withstand breakers (Schuhmacher, 1988, 2010).This particularly applies to the highly structured buildings of stone corals and calcareous algae in shallow waters. The European Council Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (FFH Directive 92/43/EEC, 1992) characterises reefs in a broader sense as permanently overflowed natural mineral hard-substrates within sandy or gravel sea floor. Biogenic solid substrates such as colonies of tube building Polychaeta (Sabellaria spp.) and banks of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) are also defined as reefs. All reefs have their own characteristic natural community that differs significantly from that of soft bottom. The European Artificial Reef Research Network (EARRN) and the OSPAR commission define an artificial reef as a submerged structure placed on the seabed deliberately in order to mimic some characteristics of a natural reef.

(Krone, 2012)

Cited:  Schuhmacher H (2010) Korallen - Baumeister am Meeresgrund. BLV, München. 160 pp. Schuhmacher H. (1988) Korallenriffe - Ihre Verbreitung, Tierwelt und Ökologie. 3. überarbeitete Auflage. BLV, München. 275 pp.