| Artificial reefs serve numerous important functions in the South Atlantic Bight by providing new recreational fishing and diving locations, contributing to state economies, and providing additional habitat for economically valuable reef fishes. However, little is known about how fish communities develop in temperate regions once a new reef is deployed, how they compare to adjacent natural reefs, and how these communities are influenced by season. Therefore, SCUBA video surveys were conducted over a 13-year period (1999-2012) at four unpublished artificial reef sites, three published artificial reef sites of varying ages, and two natural reef sites to assess the impacts of ecological succession and seasonality on species richness, diversity, evenness, fish density, and community structure. Season and reef age had significant effects on diversity and community structure at the unpublished sites, while season alone accounted for these trends at the published sites. Black seabass and tomtate dominated reef fish community structure at the published sites, while economically valuable species, such as groupers and snappers, were more abundant at the unpublished and natural reef sites. These results suggest that fish communities develop quickly at new artificial reefs (i.e., within the first year post-deployment) and that fishing pressure on publicly known reefs may obscure or even prevent community succession. |
