Yearly succession of the Marine benthic community at the construction site of the GageochoOcean Research Station

Abstract

The Gageocho Ocean Research Station was built in the south-west coast of Korea in 2009, which left a leveled underwater rock at 15m depth. In this study the pattern of succession of the marine benthic community was investigated by SCUBA diving in the under at barren site. The study site was visited each September from 2008 to 2013 and the benthic community was photographed and recorded. We also examine the neighboring rock for a control study of the benthic community. Just after the station was constructed in 2009, all benthic organisms were removed. September 2010, the fauna was mostly composed of Haliclona permollis, Penares sp., Sertularella levigata, etc, and the flora consists of Cladophora wrightiana, Carpopeltis angusta, Sargassum fulvellum, etc. In September 2011, the dominant invertebrates were Myxilla setoensis, Didemnum moseleyi, Ostrea circumpicta, Mytilus coruscus, etc as well as Haliclona permollis, Penares sp., Sertularella levigata and the flora was the same as that of 2010. September 2012 witnessed the strong increase of biodiversity in the benthic community. For invertebrates Haliclona permollis, Penares sp., Plumularia setacea, Sertularella levigata, Ostrea circumpicta, Mytilus coruscus, etc. appeared and for algea Cladophora wrightiana, Carpopeltis angusta, Sargassum fulvellum, etc. appeared. The benthic community of 2013 was observed to be almost same as that of 2012 as well as that of control siing in the under at barren site. The study site was visited each September from 2008 to 2013 and the benthic community was photographed and recorded. We also examine the neighboring rock for a control study of the benthic community. Just after the station was constructed in 2009, all benthic organisms were removed. September 2010, the fauna was mostly composed of Haliclona permollis, Penares sp., Sertularella levigata, etc, and the flora consists of Cladophora wrightiana, Carpopeltis angusta, Sargassum fulvellum, etc. In September 2011, the dominant invertebrates were Myxilla setoensis, Didemnum moseleyi, Ostrea circumpicta, Mytilus coruscus, etc as well as Haliclona permollis, Penares sp., Sertularella levigata and the flora was the same as that of 2010. September 2012 witnessed the strong increase of biodiversity in the benthic community. For invertebrates Haliclona permollis, Penares sp., Plumularia setacea, Sertularella levigata, Ostrea circumpicta, Mytilus coruscus, etc. appeared and for algea Cladophora wrightiana, Carpopeltis angusta, Sargassum fulvellum, etc. appeared. The benthic community of 2013 was observed to be almost same as that of 2012 as well as that of control si