Title Ecosystem services and environmental impacts associated with commercial kelp aquaculture ...

270 Pages·2017·3.66 MB·English

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Ecosystem services and environmental impacts associated with
Title
commercial kelp aquaculture
Author(s) Walls, Aimée M.
Publication
2017-07-11
Date
Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/6913
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Ecosystem services and environmental
impacts associated with commercial kelp
aquaculture.

A thesis submitted to the National University of Ireland, Galway
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

by

Aimée M. Walls (B.Sc)

Supervisors: Prof. Mark Johnson, Dr. Maeve Edwards &
Dr. Louise Firth

Irish Seaweed Research Group, Ryan Institute,
National University of Ireland, Galway

July 2017

Internal Examiner
Dr. Tom Doyle
Zoology
School of Natural Sciences
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland

External Examiner
Dr. Dan Smale
Benthic Ecosystems and Environmental Change
Marine Biological Association of the UK
Citadel Hill, Plymouth,
United Kingdom
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Table of Contents

Declaration .................................................................................................... ii
Funding ........................................................................................................ iii
Thesis Abstract ............................................................................................ iv
Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................. 1
Chapter 2 Potential novel habitat created by holdfasts from cultivated
Laminaria digitata: assessing the macroinvertebrate assemblages ............. 24
Chapter 3 Ecological priming of artificial aquaculture structures: kelp
farms as an example ..................................................................................... 51
Chapter 4 Successional changes of epibiont fouling communities of the
cultivated kelp Alaria esculenta: predictability and influences ................... 85
Chapter 5 Aquaculture structures of kelp farms: assessment of artificial
habitat availability for mobile fauna .......................................................... 117
Chapter 6 Incorporation of cultivated kelp (Alaria esculenta and
Saccharina latissima) into the diet of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis: a
stable isotope study .................................................................................... 140
Chapter 7 Impact of kelp cultivation on the Ecological Status of benthic
habitats and Zostera marina seagrass biomass .......................................... 161
Chapter 8 Discussion ................................................................................ 188
Appendix A: Potential novel habitat created by holdfasts from cultivated
Laminaria digitata: assessing the macroinvertebrate assemblages ........... 211
Appendix B: Ecological priming of artificial aquaculture structures: kelp
farms as an example ................................................................................... 216
Appendix C: Successional changes of epibiont fouling communities of the
cultivated kelp Alaria esculenta: predictability and influences ................. 223
Appendix D: Aquaculture structures of kelp farms: assessment of artificial
habitat availability for mobile fauna .......................................................... 227
Appendix E: Impact of kelp cultivation on the Ecological Status of benthic
habitats and Zostera marina seagrass biomass .......................................... 232
Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 245

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Declaration
I, Aimée Walls, certify that this thesis is all my own work and that the results
presented here are to the best of my knowledge correct. I have not obtained
a degree in this University or elsewhere on the basis of any of this work.
Contributions by other authors were made to the articles presented here, as
outlined on the cover page of each chapter.

Signed:
Date:
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Funding
The Dr. Tony Ryan Research Trust are gratefully acknowledged for their
support and for enabling me to carry out the research for this thesis.

Funding from the Thomas Crawford Hayes Award Trust, NUI Galway,
Ryan Institute Travel Support Scheme, Marine Institute Networking and
Travel Grant Scheme, The British Phycological Society, and The Marine
Biological Association are also greatly acknowledged.
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