Abstract
Fiber glass-reinforced plastic immersed in an experimental estuarine mesocosm fouled at estimated rates of 0.5, 5.5, and 18.8 ng (wet weight) mm−2 day−1 over days 0 to 2, 2 to 6, and 6 to 14, respectively. Protists, dominated by diatoms, which developed between days 3 and 6 and covered 90% of the undisturbed surface in 2 weeks, were effectively removed by twice-weekly brushing of the surface to maintain an immature 3-day bacterial film which covered 12% or less of the surface and had a biomass 3 orders of magnitude smaller than surfaces with 2 weeks' unrestricted fouling. Direct brushing of the fiber glass-reinforced plastic tank walls of experimental estuarine mesocosms minimized the “wall effect” by keeping a surface that maintained a low biomass of a slowly accumulating bacterial film rather than a surface which supported the more rapid accumulation of protists which in turn may induce the settlement of invertebrates and macrophytes.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Dexter S. C., Sullivan J. D., Williams J., Watson S. W. Influence of substrate wettability on the attachment of marine bacteria to various surfaces. Appl Microbiol. 1975 Aug;30(2):298–308. doi: 10.1128/am.30.2.298-308.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Watson S. W., Novitsky T. J., Quinby H. L., Valois F. W. Determination of bacterial number and biomass in the marine environment. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1977 Apr;33(4):940–946. doi: 10.1128/aem.33.4.940-946.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]