Submerged objects - a nice place to live and develop. Succession of fouling communities in the Gulf of Gdańsk, Southern Baltic

The process of ecological succession in marine fouling communities was investigated at two study sites in the Gulf of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Gdańsk. Settlement panels were used as substrata for sessile organisms, and the study lasted 150 days between May and October 2005. Communities were dominated by two species, Balanus improvisus and Mytilus trossulus. The process of succession differed at these two study sites, particularly in the final part of the experiment. Four stages of succession were distinguished at both study sites; at Gdańsk: (1) Biofilm - phase, (2) Green algae - phase, (3) Balanus - phase, (4) Ectocarpaceae - phase; at Gdynia: (1) Biofilm - phase, (2) Balanus - phase, (3) Green algae - phase, (4) Mytilus - phase.