RESEARCH ARTICLE Epibenthic and mobile species colonisation of a geotextile artificial surf reef on the south coast of England Roger J. H. Herbert1☯*, Ken Collins2☯, Jenny Mallinson2, Alice E. Hall1, Josephine Pegg3, Kathryn Ross4, Leo Clarke1, Tom Clements2 1 Bournemouth University, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom, 2 School of Ocean and Earth Science, a1111111111 University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus, European Way, a1111111111 Southampton, United Kingdom, 3 University Centre Sparsholt, Sparsholt, Winchester, Hampshire, United a1111111111 Kingdom, 4 British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, United Kingdom a1111111111 ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. a1111111111 *
[email protected] Abstract OPEN ACCESS With increasing coastal infrastructure and use of novel materials there is a need to investi- Citation: Herbert RJH, Collins K, Mallinson J, Hall gate the colonisation of assemblages associated with new structures, how these differ to AE, Pegg J, Ross K, et al. (2017) Epibenthic and mobile species colonisation of a geotextile artificial natural and other artificial habitats and their potential impact on regional biodiversity. The surf reef on the south coast of England. PLoS ONE colonisation of Europe's first artificial surf reef (ASR) was investigated at Boscombe on the 12(9): e0184100. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. south coast of England (2009±2014) and compared with assemblages on existing natural pone.0184100 and artificial habitats. The ASR consists of geotextile bags filled with sand located 220m Editor: Maura (Gee) Geraldine Chapman, University offshore on a sandy sea bed at a depth of 0-5m.