Marine Biofouling: Colonization Processes and Defenses

Alexander I Railkin
Marine Laboratory Biological Research Institute, Russia

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Cat. #: 1419 ISBN: 0849314194 Publication Date: 12/29/2003 Number of Pages: 320 Publisher Availability: In Stock CRC Press

• Examines the colonization processes that determine the formation of hard substrate communities
• Explains the causes of micro- and macroorganism concentration on water/hard body interfaces
• Constructs mathematical models for colonization processes and biofouling control
• Analyzes the common causes of colonization of man-made structures
• Reviews the main groups of foulers, from microorganisms to invertebrates to macroalgae
• Details the biological mechanisms and principles of ecologically safe defenses against biofouling

Recent instances of bioinvasion, such as the emergence of the zebra mussel in the American Great Lakes, generated a demand among marine biologists and ecologists for groundbreaking new references that detail how organisms colonize hard substrates, and how to prevent damaging biomass concentrations. Marine Biofouling: Colonization Processes and Defenses is the English language version of a comprehensive work by eminent Russian scientist Alexander I. Railkin, who details the causes of vast biomass concentrations on submerged hard substrates. He also delivers a quantitative description of colonization processes and provides detailed models for preventing biofouling.

This volume expounds on many topics rarely discussed in the frame of one book: types of hard substrate communities; comparison of hard and soft substrate communities; harm caused by micro- and macrofoulers; larval taxes and drift; mechanisms of settlement and attachment of microorganisms, invertebrates, ascidians and macroalgae; the impact of currents; protection from epibionts; industrial biofouling protection; successions on hard substrates; and the recovery of disturbed communities or the self-assembly of communities.

The text includes much Russian-language research translated for the first time. Through a thorough examination of substrate organisms and an exploration of preventive methods, this monograph prepares those concerned with marine biology to help protect the self-purifying organisms that keep marine ecosystems healthy and productive.