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RONG Hui (1983-), male, Ph.D., Professor. E-mail: huirongtcu@126.com
Outline
Marine biofouling poses a significant threat to the durability of coastal infrastructure, with the attachment of macroorganisms such as oysters inducing complex effects on concrete substrates. This review systematically examines the attachment process of oysters on marine concrete, the multifaceted factors governing this process, and the subsequent influence on material durability, distinguishing between corrosive and protective mechanisms. The analysis further evaluates current strategies for either inhibiting or facilitating oyster colonization to support targeted management of marine structures.
The review begins by elucidating the biological attachment process of oysters, from larval settlement through metamorphosis, highlighting the critical role of substrate selection. Key determinants of attachment are systematically categorized into environmental conditions, substrate properties, chemical gradients, and biological mediators. Environmental conditions including thermal regime, hydrodynamic forces, and light availability establish broader colonization patterns. Substrate properties such as surface microtopography, material composition, roughness, and color, critically influence larval settlement selectivity and adhesion strength. Chemical gradients, particularly pH value and specific ions, modulate larval behavior and enzymatic activity. Biological mediators, including conspecific cues and interspecific interactions, govern the spatial distribution and density of oyster populations. These factors collectively determine the settlement density and adhesion strength of oysters on concrete surfaces.
The core of this review addresses the dual impact of oyster attachment on concrete performance. Corrosion can occur, driven by bioacids in larval adhesives that react with cement hydrates to form expansive products, leading to matrix cracking. Post-mortem decomposition of oyster tissue further produces aggressive species that lower surface pH and facilitate biogenic acid attack. Conversely, a protective mechanism operates when a high-density, mature oyster community establishes a durable biofilm-shell composite. This layer physically seals surface pores, refines pore structure, and significantly impedes the ingress of aggressive agents such as chloride ions and oxygen, while also mitigating physical erosion from water flow. The transition from net corrosion to net protection is critically governed by the achievement of a threshold oyster coverage density and biofilm maturity, with low-density attachment providing insufficient protection and potentially exacerbating localized degradation.
The review further summarizes strategies to manage oyster attachment. Preventive measures include modifying concrete mix designs with pozzolans or slag to enhance inherent durability, physical removal methods such as manual cleaning and ultrasonic techniques, and the development of advanced protective coatings. These coatings encompass natural antifouling agent-based coatings, surface-property-tuning coatings including biomimetic and amphiphilic designs, and stimuli-responsive intelligent coatings that offer targeted, environmentally benign alternatives. However, they face challenges in long-term stability and scalable application. Conversely, inductive measures to promote protective oyster colonization focus on optimizing concrete as a settlement substrate through the incorporation of calcium-based inducers such as bovine bone powder and calcium carbonate, and tailoring surface characteristics including roughness and dark color to significantly enhance larval attachment rates and aim to engineer stable, high-density biofilms for long-term concrete preservation.
Although significant progress has been achieved in understanding oyster-concrete interactions, the dualistic corrosion-protection mechanisms of oyster attachment remain complex and incompletely understood, with the evolutionary dynamics of oysters as dominant sessile organisms on concrete substrates and their lifecycle impacts on concrete integrity subject to ongoing debate owing to the intricate interplay of diverse marine environmental factors, seasonal variations, and developmental phases that lead to differential growth patterns and distinct effects on concrete durability. Future research should prioritize conducting systematic in situ field trials within authentic marine environments to enable precise mechanistic analysis of adhesion and corrosion processes, facilitate quantitative assessment of oyster life-cycle effects on concrete performance, and establish comprehensive models capable of predicting the transition between corrosive and protective outcomes based on critical thresholds of coverage density, biofilm maturity, and local hydrodynamic regimes. Furthermore, although oyster attachment can be detrimental under conditions of low-density colonization, the formation of stable, dense biofilms may confer significant protective benefits to concrete substrates by impeding aggressive aggressive-agent ingress, refining surface pore structure, and mitigating physical erosion, warranting in-depth investigations into this protective mechanism through integration of biological principles such as selective breeding and behavioral conditioning of target oyster species to promote rapid colonization of intertidal concrete surfaces and engineer cohesive fouling communities capable of providing effective long-term material preservation, ultimately contributing to the development of controllable, large-scale bioprotective strategies for sustainable marine infrastructure management.
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| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |
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