Install a pump on or above the seabed in docks, ports, harbour, or other coastal areas to increase oxygen concentration

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

75%
Certainty

20%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Habitats and invertebrate populations within many ports, harbours, and docks around the world have deteriorated due to anthropogenic pressures, such as pollution and eutrophication, and the consequent decline in water quality and oxygenation (Russell et al. 1983). Improving water quality to these environments, for instance by increasing water mixing and oxygenation, can be achieved by installing a pump underwater. Installing a pump can help increase oxygen concentration in seawater, improve overall water quality, and potentially help promote subtidal benthic invertebrate biodiversity (Russell et al. 1983; Yamochi & Oda 2002).

_{Russell G., Hawkins S.J., Evans L.C., Jones H.D. & Holmes G.D. (1983) Restoration of a disused dock basin as a habitat for marine benthos and fish. Journal of Applied Ecology, 43–58.}

_{Yamochi S. & Oda K. (2002) An attempt to restore suitable conditions for demersal fishes and crustaceans in the Port of Sakai-Semboku, north Osaka Bay, Japan. Aquatic Ecology, 36, 67–83.}

Study locations

Key messages

One study examined the effects of installing a pump on or above the seabed in docks, ports, harbour, or other coastal areas to increase oxygen concentration on subtidal benthic invertebrate populations. The study was in Osaka Bay (Japan).

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

Overall richness/diversity (1 study): One before-and-after study in Osaka Bayfound that installing a pump on the seabed of a port to mix seawater and increase oxygen concentration led to an increase in combined invertebrate and fish species richness.

POPULATION RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

Overall abundance (1 study): One before-and-after study in Osaka Bay found that installing a pump on the seabed of a port to mix seawater and increase oxygen concentration led to an increase in combined invertebrates and fish abundance.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A before-and-after study in 1995–1998 in one area of seabed in Osaka Bay, Japan (Yamochi & Oda) found that installing a pump on the seabed of a port to mix seawater and increase oxygen concentration appeared to increase combined invertebrate and fish species richness and abundance, after four months. Data were not statistically tested. Species richness was seven times higher after installing the pump (14 species/survey) compared to before (7 species/survey), and abundance was 52 times higher after (11 individuals/transect) than before (0.2 individuals/transect). In May 1996, a jet stream pump system was installed on the seabed of a port with low water oxygen concentration, at 4 m water depth. One dredge net (2 m x 0.5 m, 0.7–1.5 cm mesh size) was deployed along ten 70 m transects during weekly surveys before (June–August 1996; seven surveys) and after installation (June–August 1998; six surveys). Invertebrates and fish caught were identified and counted and results presented as combined species richness and abundance.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Yamochi S. & Oda K. (2002) An attempt to restore suitable conditions for demersal fishes and crustaceans in the Port of Sakai-Semboku, north Osaka Bay, Japan. Aquatic Ecology, 36, 67-83.

Please cite as:

Lemasson, A.J., Pettit, L.R., Smith, R.K. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Subtidal Benthic Invertebrate Conservation. Pages 635-732 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Subtidal Benthic Invertebrate Conservation

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