Current status of artificial reefs colonization

Within the Larvotto Marine Protected Area, since 1977, several types of artificial reefs have been submerged.

Environmental monitoring was carried out heterogeneously and independently of each other. From a technical point of view, these monitoring were carried out using different protocols and the data acquired are sometimes not comparable. In addition, there are still Larvotto reefs for which we have relatively little information.

A bibliographic research and an inventory to characterize the structural state of conservation of each reef have already been carried out between 2021 and 2022.

With Thalassa Marine research & Environmental awareness we subsequently initiated a more precise inventory to characterize the benthic colonization of these reefs using photographic quadrats. Understanding the state of the food chain at these reefs requires a targeted analysis of the benthic compartment (fixed fauna and flora).

The diversity of benthic communities optimizes the reproduction, recruitment and trophic resources of fish and large mobile invertebrates such as crustaceans and molluscs, thus contributing to the proper functioning of the reef population.