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Autotrophic net productivity patterns at four artificial reef sites in the Mississippi Sound

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Abstract

Nearshore artificial reefs are common coastal features, for instance the Mississippi Sound has 67 inshore artificial reefs, the goal of which is to increase fisheries production. The success of artificial reefs depends in part on the primary production potential available to support the reef-based food web. In this study, we used settlement plates to estimate periphyton community net productivity, chlorophyll-a (chl-a), and biomass at sites adjacent to four artificial reefs in the Mississippi Sound in order to evaluate the potential of these artificial reefs to enhance local primary production. Water column primary productivity, chl-a, and biomass were also measured to assess the contribution of phytoplankton to total net primary production at these four sites. The largely negative net productivity measurements obtained for the periphyton community suggest that artificial structures deployed in the Mississippi Sound are potentially net heterotrophic and that the autotrophic component of the periphyton is not likely to be a major source of primary production to the reef food web for much of the year except in winter. The higher water column productivity measurements suggest that phytoplankton is a more important source of primary production to the reef food web than the benthic periphyton community especially during the summer.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Thomas Albaret, J.D. Caldwell, Scott Caldwell, Heather Joesting, Philip Kauth, Lynnae Manuel, Linh Pham, and Lynn Wilking, at Gulf Coast Research Laboratory for their help with field and lab work, as well as Frank Becker of T&D Charters for providing vessel support. We also thank Kevin Dillon and Chet Rakocinski (Gulf Coast Research Laboratory) for assistance with water quality and statistical analyses. Funding for this research was provided by Coastal Impact Assessment Program Grant # MS.R.727, through the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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  1. Viviana Mazzei

    Present address: Florida International University, Modesto A. Maidique Campus (MMC), 11200 S.W. 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

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  1. Department of Coastal Science, The University of Southern Mississippi, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS, 39564, USA

    Viviana Mazzei & Patrick Biber

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  1. Viviana Mazzei
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Correspondence to Patrick Biber.

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Mazzei, V., Biber, P. Autotrophic net productivity patterns at four artificial reef sites in the Mississippi Sound. Hydrobiologia 749, 135–154 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2160-6

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