Aquatic Bioinvasions Research and Policy Institute, Environmental Sciences and Management, PO Box 751, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Biofouling. 2009 Oct;25(7):645-55. doi: 10.1080/08927010903046268.
Fouling of ships is an important historical and enduring transfer mechanism of marine nonindigenous species (NIS). Although containerships have risen to the forefront of global maritime shipping since the 1950s, few studies have directly sampled fouling communities on their submerged surfaces, and little is known about differences in the fouling characteristics among commercial ship types. Twenty-two in-service containerships at the Port of Oakland (San Francisco Bay, California) were sampled to test the hypothesis that the extent and taxonomic richness of fouling would be low on this type of ship, resulting from relatively fast speeds and short port durations. The data showed that the extent of macroorganisms (invertebrates and algae) was indeed low, especially across the large surface areas of the hull. Less than 1% of the exposed hull was colonized for all apart from one vessel. These ships had submerged surface areas of >7000 m(2), and fouling coverage on this area was estimated to be <17 m(2) per vessel, with zero biota detected on the hulls of many vessels. The outlying smaller vessel (4465 m(2)) had an estimated coverage of 90% on the hull and also differed substantially from the other ships in terms of its recent voyage history, shorter voyage range and slower speeds. Despite the low extent of fouling, taxonomic richness was high among vessels. Consistent with recent studies, a wide range of organisms were concentrated at more protected and heterogeneous (non-hull) niche areas, including rudders, stern tubes and intake gratings. Green algae and barnacles were most frequently sampled among vessels, but hydroids, bryozoans, bivalves and ascidians were also recorded. One vessel had 20 different species in its fouling assemblage, including non-native species (already established in San Francisco Bay) and mobile species that were not detected in visual surveys. In contrast to other studies, dry dock block areas did not support many organisms, despite little antifouling deterrence in some cases. Comparisons with previous studies suggest that the accumulation of fouling on containerships may be lower than on other ship types (eg bulkers and general cargo vessels), but more data are needed to determine the hierarchy of factors contributing to differences in the extent of macrofouling and non-native species vector risks within the commercial fleet.
船舶污损是海洋外来物种（NIS）重要的历史和持久的转移机制。虽然自 20 世纪 50 年代以来集装箱船已成为全球海运的主力军，但很少有研究直接对其水下表面的污损群落进行采样，也很少有人了解商业船舶类型之间污损特征的差异。在加利福尼亚州旧金山湾的奥克兰港（Port of Oakland），对 22 艘现役集装箱船进行了采样，以检验以下假设：由于相对较快的速度和较短的港口停留时间，这种类型的船舶上的污损程度和分类丰富度应该较低。数据表明，大型生物（无脊椎动物和藻类）的数量确实很低，尤其是船体的大面积区域。除了一艘船之外，所有船只的船体都只有不到 1%的面积被生物定植。这些船的水下表面积超过 7000 平方米，估计每艘船的污损面积小于 17 平方米，许多船只的船体上没有发现生物。较小的船只（4465 平方米）船体污损面积估计为 90%，而且与其他船只在最近的航程历史、较短的航程范围和较慢的速度方面也有很大不同。尽管污损程度较低，但船只的分类丰富度很高。与最近的研究一致，大量生物集中在保护和异质（非船体）的小生境区域，包括舵、尾轴和进水格栅。绿藻和藤壶是船只中最常采样的生物，但也记录了水螅、苔藓虫、双壳类和海鞘。一艘船上有 20 种不同的污损生物，包括已经在旧金山湾定居的非本地物种和在目视调查中未检测到的移动物种。与其他研究相比，尽管在某些情况下没有使用多少防污剂，但干船坞的堵塞区域并没有支持许多生物。与以前的研究相比，集装箱船的污损积累可能低于其他类型的船舶（例如散货船和杂货船），但需要更多的数据来确定导致商业船队中大型污损和外来物种载体风险程度差异的因素层次结构。
