Honors College Theses

Publication Date

2026

Major

Biology (B.S.B.)

Release Option

Restricted to Georgia Southern

Faculty Mentor

Kathryn Craven

Abstract

Artificial reefs can be an effective method of increasing biodiversity within deteriorating marine ecosystems in a rapidly changing climate. In artificial reef construction, concrete has traditionally been the material of choice. This project evaluated clay and concrete mixtures made from marine byproducts, algal biowaste. The two substrates were compared with their non-algae infused counterparts to examine the biodiversity of microscopic and macroscopic settlement. It was hypothesized that algae-clay and algae-concrete substrates would support higher levels of biodiversity in terms of percent cover and direct estimated microscopic count. Percent cover was measured in terms of biofilm coverage and barnacle count. Direct estimated microscopic count was measured by counting the number of possible organisms and possible unique organisms in the field of view under a microscope to estimate species richness. Algae-clay had the highest total and mean barnacle count, and algae-concrete had the highest mean for biofilm coverage. Algae-clay and algae-concrete had significantly different direct estimate microscopic count. The findings indicated that under these conditions, concrete and clay infused with algal biowaste had the highest amount of percent cover and direct estimated microscopic count. As this experiment showed success with algae infused substrates, the result of this research provides more information for sustainable reef materials and contributes to future artificial reef construction in marine conservation efforts.

Thesis Summary

In artificial reef construction, concrete has traditionally been the material of choice. This project evaluated clay and concrete mixtures made from marine byproducts, algal biowaste. The two substrates were compared with their non-algae infused counterparts to examine the biodiversity of microscopic and macroscopic settlement. It was hypothesized that algae-clay and algae-concrete substrates would support higher levels of biodiversity in terms of percent cover and direct estimated microscopic count. Percent cover was measured in terms of biofilm coverage and barnacle count. Direct estimated microscopic count was measured by counting the number of possible organisms and possible unique organisms in the field of view under a microscope to estimate species richness. Algae-clay had the highest total and mean barnacle count, and algae-concrete had the highest mean for biofilm coverage. Algae-clay and algae-concrete showed significance in direct estimate microscopic count. The results of this research provides more information for sustainable reef materials and contributes to future artificial reef construction in marine conservation efforts.

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