Algal Colonization of a Tire Reef—Influence of Placement Date

Artificial reefs constructed from scrap tires were used to study algal colonization, measured as percentage primary cover with particular attention to the relationship between time of placement and rate of colonization. A replicated experiment was carried out in order to assess the influence of date of placement on algal colonization. Removable sampling units were attached to tire reef units each two months for twelve months. Rates of algal colonization were greatest during the late spring and summer. The abundance of individual species varied seasonally. Over the 2-year period of the experiment 56 species of algae were identified to the level of genus and/or species. It was concluded that studies which simply rely upon a single sampling and placement date would be unreliable predictors of algal growth patterns on tire reefs particularly in the first 4 months of colonization. It is recommended that in the future tire reefs be placed in the Gulf of St. Vincent in October (spring) or December (summer) to benefit from the more rapid development of algal cover at this time of the year.