Offshore and coastal wind power is one of the fastest growing industries in many areas, especially those with shallow coastal regions due to the preferable generation conditions available in the regions. As with any expanding industry, there are concerns regarding the potential environmental effects which may be caused by the installation of the offshore wind turbines and their associated infrastructure, including substations and subsea cables. These include the potential impacts on the biological, physical and human environments. This review discusses in detail the potential impacts arising from offshore wind farm construction, and how these may be quantified and addressed through the use of conceptual models. It concludes that while not environmentally benign, the environmental impacts are minor and can be mitigated through good siting practices. In addition, it suggests that there are opportunities for environmental benefits through habitat creation and conservation protection areas.

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In their early larval stages, red drum migrate through coastal inlets and settle into shallow seagrass meadows within estuaries. This study describes environmental rhythms in red drum nursery habitats and evaluates their role in larval growth and survival to determine nursery habitat quality. Well-defined diel cycles were observed in temperature (amplitude 3 to 7°C) and dissolved oxygen (DO) (range 2.9 to 17.5 mg O 2 l -1 ), while sporadic cold fronts lowered temperatures by 6 to 10°C in 24 to 72 h. Groups of settlement and post-settlement larvae (3.9 to 17.3 mm standard length) were exposed in the laboratory to cycles of temperature and DO, and to combined temperature and DO diel cycles and then compared to fish grown in constant conditions (control). Relative to controls, growth was significantly reduced only in DO cycles with prolonged daily exposure to hypoxia (> 8.2 h d -1 ). Survival was similar in all treatments. In response to water cooling during simulated cold fronts, fish previously exposed to temperature cycles grew faster and had a higher food intake than control fish. Fish exposed to DO cycles maintained a greater food intake than control fish but grew at a similar rate. These results indicate that (1) diel cycles impart a physiological advantage to red drum larvae, (2) field measurements of environmental characteristics at a frequency of once a day may be inadequate for assessing nursery values for red drum, and (3) increased exposure to transient hypoxia in oscillating environmental conditions can affect growth and reduce nursery value and recruitment strength.KEY WORDS: Seagrass · Diel rhythms · Nursery quality · Hypoxia · Fish larvae · Growth · Red drum · Sciaenops ocellatusResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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