Data from: The rainbow connection: the case for including substrate colour in the ‘eco-engineering’ of marine constructions
Data files
Jul 08, 2025 version files 106.19 KB
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12months.csv
18.57 KB
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3months.csv
14.32 KB
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6months.csv
17.80 KB
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6weeks.csv
9 KB
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final_panelcolours.xlsx
33.68 KB
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Fish.csv
8.98 KB
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Kurraba_Thermodata.csv
817 B
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README.md
3.02 KB
Abstract
The urbanisation of the world’s coastlines is replacing diverse natural substrates with grey concrete. The changing shoreline colourscape may potentially influence colonisation of marine surfaces, by influencing settlement patterns and predator-prey interactions, but is overlooked in the design of marine structures for ecological co-benefits.
This study assessed how manipulating the colour of concrete influenced benthic community development on intertidal seawalls in Sydney Harbour, Australia, when fin-fish predators had access to panels or were excluded by cages. Four colours were compared at high and low intertidal elevations of two sites: grey (the colour of concrete); red and yellow (the colours of natural Sydney sandstone rock) and green (the colour of algal biofilms).
Red substrate developed distinct ecological communities compared to yellow, green and grey substrates, with many taxa positively associated with red. Effects of colour were greater in the low than the high intertidal, reflecting the greater number of colonising species on which colour could act.
Effects were generally similar across caged and open surfaces, consistent with effects of colour on settlement preferences rather than predation effects. Contrary to the hypothesis that effects would diminish through time with declining bare space with which colonists could interact, the colour effect persisted for the duration of the 12-month study.
Synthesis and applications. Our results show that in the low intertidal, colour can shape sessile community assembly on concrete surfaces over time scales of at least 12 months. Consequently, alongside the habitat complexity and material type of marine built structures, colour warrants consideration in the development of eco-friendly designs. The colour of marine built structures is easily manipulated, for example through the addition of non-toxic oxides to concrete as done here.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.v41ns1s7w
Description of the data and file structure
Files and variables
Files: 6weeks.csv, 3months.csv, 6months.csv, 12months.csv
Description: Data on the abundance of sessile and mobile taxa present 6 weeks, and 3, 6 and 12 months post-deployment for different panel colours (colour; grey, yellow, red, green), sites (Site; KP=Kurraba Point, MM= McMahons Point), intertidal heights (height, H=high and L=low) and cage treatments (treatment; open, half and cage).
For 6weeks, columns ‘Barnacle’ through to ‘Ulva’ are sessile species and are expressed as percent covers. At 6weeks, columns Siphonaria_funiculata and to the right are mobile species and are counts per panel.
For 3months, 6months, 12months, columns Amphibalanus_amphitrite through to Watersipora_subtorquata are for sessile species and are expressed as percent covers. For 3months the column ‘Siphonaria_denticulata’ and to the right are mobile species and are counts per panel. For 6months and 12months the column ‘Amphipod’ and to the right are mobile species and are counts per panel.
sessile_richness = the total number of sessile species found on each panel;
mobile_richness = the total number of mobile species found on a panel;
total_richness = the total number of species found on each panel;
cover = the total percent cover of sessile species on a panel (may exceed 100 as primary [directly attached to panel] and secondary [attached to primary] cover were summed and sessile species present but not falling underneath an intersection point were given a value of 1% cover to denote their presence). Where sections of panels were lost through cracking, ‘cover’ was calculated based only on the area of panel remaining.
missing = the percent area of a panel that was missing due to the panel cracking and a section breaking off.
bare = the percent cover of a panel that is free of sessile species (note, cover and bare may not always sum to zero if some of the cover is secondary). Where sections of panels were lost through cracking, ‘bare’ was calculated based only on the area of panel remaining.
File: Kurraba_Thermodata.csv
Description: Summary of temperature measurements (degrees Celsius) for panels at Kurraba Point of different panel colour (colour; grey, yellow, red, green), intertidal height (height, High and Low) and cage treatment (treatment; open and cage).
File: Fish.csv
Description: Counts of fish species recorded by each of 11 cameras (labelled A to K) at each site (Site; KP=Kurraba Point, MM= McMahons Point) on each of two dates (date, dd/mm/yyyy)
Guild = feeding guild of fish
File: final_panelcolours.xlsx
Description: Spectral data of the different colour panels (grey, green, yellow and red), showing the spectral reflectance (as a %) at each nanometer (nm) step.