4.6 Time of deployment

The time of deployment may influence the time of development and the structure of the benthic community that will colonize the artificial substrates, favouring the settlement of some organisms rather than others. For example, in tropical regions it can be beneficial to deploy the artificial reefs at certain times to prevent them from algal overgrowth and increase survival of coral recruits.

In temperate regions, larval settlement of most species occurs in late spring?summer, hence it might be advantageous to deploy the artificial substrates in those seasons or just before. Additionally, the timing of deployment may have serious economic implications for the reef installation costs as standby rates incurred by large marine infrastructures can easily double the installation costs. Therefore, prevailing seasonal weather conditions should be considered when planning reef deployment strategies.