My personal project also involved fouling communities.  I looked at the influence of plate size and shape on species diversity. I also investigated whether or not there was a difference in the taxa that settle at the edges of plates vs the center. Past studies have found that there is a fairly consistent increase in species diversity as habitat size increases, but these studies have not taken into account possible edge effects associated with the shape of the habitat. A triangular plate of equal area to a square plate has a greater edge/area ratio which could influence the taxa that settle there. I compared these two shapes and also examined the species/area relationship.