Vertical interactions between sessile and mobile species of biofouling on the Fécamp platform
Résumé
The imperative to mitigate climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions has accelerated the development of Marine Renewable Energies (MRE), particularly wind energy, which has recently experienced substantial growth. At the same time, these infrastructures contribute to the increasing presence of artificial structures in marine environments, which enables rapid colonisation by benthic species. This phenomenon, known as the reef effect, constitutes a major impact of MREs on marine biodiversity. The wind turbines of the Fécamp offshore wind farm are gravity-based foundations placed on the seabed. These foundations serve as strategic attachment sites for benthic species, potentially leading to a reef effect. Within this framework, the DRACCAR project, the first French offshore research platform dedicated to wind energy, was established in the English Channel, one of the most anthropized seas in the world. This project aims to investigate the interactions between offshore wind energy and the various components of the ecosystem while developing a multi-level marine environmental observation network. In our study, samplings are conducted at the base of the instrumentation mast, a structure similar to the foundations of the wind farm turbines, composed of metal in the intertidal zone and concrete in the subtidal zone. Five replicates of 0.1 m² each of fauna are collected on the foundation along a depth gradient (-4 m, -14 m, and -27 m) at two seasons (autumn 2024 and winter 2025) and according to current exposure. This study enables the quantification of biofouling on the foundations and characterizes artificial hard substrate communities within an offshore wind farm based on depth and physical forcing factors. For autumn sampling, more than 120 taxa were identified with an abundance ranging from 744 to 3731 ind./0.1m². This project will contribute to a better knowledge of the role of each species in the establishment of the community by examining the influence of biogenic species on hard substrates on the presence of vagile benthic species. The perspectives of this study are to characterize potential reef and reserve effects of wind farms and to observe the interactions of these structures within an ecosystem-based management approach.
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