The role of containerships as transfer mechanisms of marine biofouling species

Fouling of ships is an important historical and enduring transfer mechanism of marine nonindigenous species (NIS). Although containerships have risen to the forefront of global maritime shipping since the 1950s, few studies have directly sampled fouling communities on their submerged surfaces, and l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biofouling (Chur, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2009-10, Vol.25 (7), p.645-655
Main Authors: Davidson, Ian C., Brown, Christopher W., Sytsma, Mark D., Ruiz, Gregory M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biodiversity
Biofouling
California
Commerce
containerships
fouling
hulls
Invertebrates - classification
Invertebrates - growth & development
Invertebrates - physiology
Marine Biology
Population Dynamics
Ships
species introductions
Species Specificity
vectors
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Summary:Fouling of ships is an important historical and enduring transfer mechanism of marine nonindigenous species (NIS). Although containerships have risen to the forefront of global maritime shipping since the 1950s, few studies have directly sampled fouling communities on their submerged surfaces, and little is known about differences in the fouling characteristics among commercial ship types. Twenty-two in-service containerships at the Port of Oakland (San Francisco Bay, California) were sampled to test the hypothesis that the extent and taxonomic richness of fouling would be low on this type of ship, resulting from relatively fast speeds and short port durations. The data showed that the extent of macroorganisms (invertebrates and algae) was indeed low, especially across the large surface areas of the hull. Less than 1% of the exposed hull was colonized for all apart from one vessel. These ships had submerged surface areas of >7000 m 2 , and fouling coverage on this area was estimated to be
ISSN:0892-7014
1029-2454
DOI:10.1080/08927010903046268