Recruitment of marine biota onto hard and soft artificially created subtidal habitats in Sabah Al-Ahmad Sea City, Kuwait

Published source details Jones D.A. & Nithyanandan M. (2013) Recruitment of marine biota onto hard and soft artificially created subtidal habitats in Sabah Al-Ahmad Sea City, Kuwait. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 72, 351-356.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Landscape or artificially enhance the seabed (natural habitats) Action Link

Landscape or artificially enhance the seabed (natural habitats)

A site comparison study in 2004–2011 in one soft seabed area in the Persian Gulf, southern Kuwait (Jones & Nithyanandan 2013), found that seabed sites artificially enhanced by adding broken coral limestone rubble developed similar invertebrate species richness and abundance compared to natural sites, within two to six years. Results were not tested for statistical significance. Within two to six years, invertebrate species richness appeared similar in artificially enhanced (38.3–129 species/site) and natural site (66 species/site), and within one to two years abundance appeared higher in artificially enhanced (206–19,404 individual/m³) than natural sites (2,263 individual/m³). Following the construction of Sabah Al-Ahmad Sea City, waterways were gradually opened to the sea between 2004–2011 and sections of the seabed were artificially enhanced to promote colonisation. Annually in 2004–2011, samples were collected at 3–12 enhanced sites (3–4 m depth) using a sediment grab (three grabs/site). Invertebrates (>0.5 mm) were identified and counted. Data for the natural sites were obtained from surveys of 13 sites sampled in 2002–2004 by the United Nations Claim Commission (156 surveys in total, methodology not described).

(Summarised by: Anaëlle Lemasson & Laura Pettit)