Vol.: (0123456789) 1 3 Hydrobiologia https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-023-05425-x PRIMARY RESEARCH PAPER Early stage ecological communities on artifcial algae showed no diference in diversity and abundance under ocean acidifcation Federica Ragazzola  · Matteo Nannini · Giancarlo Raiteri · Andrea Bordone · Regina Kolzenburg · Elisa Romanelli · Gabriella Cerrati · Danilo Pacella · Lori Gabellieri · Fabrizio Andreoli · Gerardo Claps · Claudio Vasapollo · Agnese Marchini · Federica Gazzola · Alberto Castelli · Joachim Langeneck · Giovanni Chimienti · Carlo Pipitone · Federica Montesanto · Chiara Lombardi Received: 12 December 2022 / Revised: 6 November 2023 / Accepted: 7 November 2023 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 Abstract Marine habitat-forming species create structurally complex habitats that host macroinver- tebrate communities characterized by remarkable abundance and species richness. These habitat-form- ing species also play a fundamental role in creating favourable environmental conditions that promote biodiversity. The deployment of artifcial struc- tures is becoming a common practice to help ofset habitat loss although with mixed results. This study investigated the suitability of artifcial fexible turfs mimicking the articulated coralline algae (mimics) as habitat providers and the efect of ocean acidifcation (OA) on early stage ecological communities associ- ated to fexible mimics and with the mature commu- nity associated to Ellisolandia elongata natural turfs. The mimics proved to be a suitable habitat for early stage communities. During the OA mesocosms exper- iment, the two substrates have been treated and ana- lysed separately due to the diference between the two communities. For early stage ecological communities associated with the mimics, the lack of a biologically active substrate does not exacerbate the efect of OA. In fact, no signifcant diferences were found between treatments in crustaceans, molluscs and polychaetes diversity and abundance associated with the mimics. Handling editor: Trine Bekkby Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi. org/10.1007/s10750-023-05425-x. F. Ragazzola (*) · M. Nannini  Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Genoa Marine Centre, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa del Principe, Piazza del Principe 4, 16126 Genoa, Italy e-mail: federica.ragazzola@szn.it M. Nannini · G. Raiteri · A. Bordone · R. Kolzenburg · E. Romanelli · G. Cerrati · C. Lombardi  Department of Sustainability, Marine Environment Research Centre, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development (ENEA), Via Forte Santa Teresa, 19032 Pozzuolo di Lerici (SP), Italy E. Romanelli  Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Marine Science, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA D. Pacella · L. Gabellieri · F. Andreoli · G. Claps  Department of Fusion and Technology for Nuclear Safety and Security, Research Centre Frascati, ENEA, Via E. Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, RM, Italy C. Vasapollo  Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnologies (IRBIM), National Research Council (CNR), Largo Fiera Della Pesca, 1, Ancona, Italy A. Marchini · F. Gazzola  Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pavia, Via S. Epifanio 14, Pavia, Italy A. Castelli · J. Langeneck  Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy