A Comparison of Possible Methods for Marine Fouling Assessment during Raft Trails

摘要

Fouling settlement data from HMAS STIRLING (Western Australia), the North Barnard Islands (North Queensland) and Williamstown (Victoria) were used to evaluate the suitability of different methods for settlement. Density, cover, frequency and biomass measures were used to assess the abundance of settlement on panels immersed during raft trials. Frequency proved to be the most suitable measure of individual species abundance for comparisons both within and between study sites. Density measures could not be applied to all species, whilst the panel cover of individual species was generally too low for effective comparison of abundance. Panel cover and biomass were better indices of total fouling abundance than either density or frequency. A draft method for assessment of fouling settlement on test panels based on these findings, and suitable for use in conjunction with Australian Standard 1580 test-method 481.5, is appended. (Author)