Expected effect of climate change on fouling communities and its impact on antifouling research

In the coming decades, the marine environment will be subject to profound changes, such as elevation of water temperature and ultraviolet radiation, changes in salinity, and decreases of pH due to acidification. These changes will affect not only the survival of dispersal stages and their development but also their recruitment, which among other factors is mediated by the quality and quantity of settlement cues. Climate change can also modify characteristics of microbial communities and the production of metabolites, which in turn, can change settlement of dispersal stages and development of macrofouling communities. In this chapter, I review the possible effects of climate change on microbial and macrofouling communities, performance of antifouling coatings and highlight future research perspectives.