Structure & Succession of Fouling Communities

The development of fouling communities in the White Sea cannot be described as a linear sequence of stages replacing each other, but rather as a network of possible stages. Such scheme has a low predictive value and does not explain changes occurring in fouling communities. The estimation of a survival strategy of epibenthic organisms in terms of Ramenskii-Grime's system is conceived as the most promising method in analysis of structure and development of fouling communities. Testing of this hypothesis was carried out in five fouling organisms: mollusks Mytilus edulis and Hiatella arctica, solitary ascidians Molgula citrina and Styela rustica, and sponge Halichondria panicea. The obtained strategies coincide well with real positions of testing species in structure and succession of fouling communities developing in the White Sea.