Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea)
Extensive marine benthos surveys have resulted in a solid understanding of the broad distribution pattern of seafloor biotopes in the southeastern North Sea (temperate northeast Atlantic region). However, due to the low spatial resolution of large-scale surveys, specific smaller-scale biotopes with...
Published in: | Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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Language: | English |
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2022
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Online Access: | https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutputs/spotlight-on-coarse-sediments-comparative-characterization-of-a-poorly-investigated-seafloor-biotope-in-the-german-bight-se-north-sea(1697bfba-1f51-4298-806a-0a82caa60e57).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107996 https://research.bangor.ac.uk/ws/files/48822416/YECSS_D_22_00176_main_text_2nd_revision.pdf |
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ftuwalesbangcris:oai:research.bangor.ac.uk:publications/1697bfba-1f51-4298-806a-0a82caa60e57 2024-06-23T07:55:28+00:00 Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) Gutow, Lars Gusky, Manuela Beermann, Jan Gimenez Noya, Luis Pesch, Roland Bildstein, Tim Heinicke, Kathrin Ebbe, Brigitte 2022-09-30 application/pdf https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutputs/spotlight-on-coarse-sediments-comparative-characterization-of-a-poorly-investigated-seafloor-biotope-in-the-german-bight-se-north-sea(1697bfba-1f51-4298-806a-0a82caa60e57).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107996 https://research.bangor.ac.uk/ws/files/48822416/YECSS_D_22_00176_main_text_2nd_revision.pdf eng eng https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutputs/spotlight-on-coarse-sediments-comparative-characterization-of-a-poorly-investigated-seafloor-biotope-in-the-german-bight-se-north-sea(1697bfba-1f51-4298-806a-0a82caa60e57).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Gutow , L , Gusky , M , Beermann , J , Gimenez Noya , L , Pesch , R , Bildstein , T , Heinicke , K & Ebbe , B 2022 , ' Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) ' , Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science , vol. 275 , 107996 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107996 Biodiversity Lygdamis muratus Marine conservation Rullierinereis cf. ancornunezi Shelf seas article 2022 ftuwalesbangcris https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107996 2024-05-29T23:53:52Z Extensive marine benthos surveys have resulted in a solid understanding of the broad distribution pattern of seafloor biotopes in the southeastern North Sea (temperate northeast Atlantic region). However, due to the low spatial resolution of large-scale surveys, specific smaller-scale biotopes with scattered distribution have been insufficiently captured. Consequently, knowledge regarding the environmental characteristics and species inventories of some specific biotopes is still limited. We investigated the habitat characteristics and the macro-infauna (i.e., organisms in samples collected by a sediment grab and retained in a sieve with a mesh size of 1000 µm) of a spatially restricted, patchy coarse sediment (i.e., grain size fraction > 500 µm accounting for ≥ 60 % of the total sample mass) biotope in the German Bight over three consecutive years. Habitat and faunal characteristics were contrasted with four other benthic biotopes sampled at the same time to allow for a comparative evaluation. Our study revealed considerable fluctuations in grain size distribution among samples of the coarse sediment, potentially resulting from a frequent redistribution of sediments. A total number of 243 infauna taxa were identified at the 66 stations sampled over three consecutive years (16-33 stations per year) with a considerable proportion of endangered and rare species. The results highlight that previous studies have underestimated the species richness of the biotope. The focus on this previously poorly studied biotope type allowed us to detect species in the study region that were formerly unreported. The macro-infauna in the coarse sediments was characterized by comparatively high abundance and biomass, which may provide a rich food resource for organisms from higher trophic levels. Therefore, coarse sediments likely are an ecologically valuable seafloor biotope despite its limited coverage. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northeast Atlantic Bangor University: Research Portal Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 275 107996 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Bangor University: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftuwalesbangcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Biodiversity Lygdamis muratus Marine conservation Rullierinereis cf. ancornunezi Shelf seas |
spellingShingle |
Biodiversity Lygdamis muratus Marine conservation Rullierinereis cf. ancornunezi Shelf seas Gutow, Lars Gusky, Manuela Beermann, Jan Gimenez Noya, Luis Pesch, Roland Bildstein, Tim Heinicke, Kathrin Ebbe, Brigitte Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) |
topic_facet |
Biodiversity Lygdamis muratus Marine conservation Rullierinereis cf. ancornunezi Shelf seas |
description |
Extensive marine benthos surveys have resulted in a solid understanding of the broad distribution pattern of seafloor biotopes in the southeastern North Sea (temperate northeast Atlantic region). However, due to the low spatial resolution of large-scale surveys, specific smaller-scale biotopes with scattered distribution have been insufficiently captured. Consequently, knowledge regarding the environmental characteristics and species inventories of some specific biotopes is still limited. We investigated the habitat characteristics and the macro-infauna (i.e., organisms in samples collected by a sediment grab and retained in a sieve with a mesh size of 1000 µm) of a spatially restricted, patchy coarse sediment (i.e., grain size fraction > 500 µm accounting for ≥ 60 % of the total sample mass) biotope in the German Bight over three consecutive years. Habitat and faunal characteristics were contrasted with four other benthic biotopes sampled at the same time to allow for a comparative evaluation. Our study revealed considerable fluctuations in grain size distribution among samples of the coarse sediment, potentially resulting from a frequent redistribution of sediments. A total number of 243 infauna taxa were identified at the 66 stations sampled over three consecutive years (16-33 stations per year) with a considerable proportion of endangered and rare species. The results highlight that previous studies have underestimated the species richness of the biotope. The focus on this previously poorly studied biotope type allowed us to detect species in the study region that were formerly unreported. The macro-infauna in the coarse sediments was characterized by comparatively high abundance and biomass, which may provide a rich food resource for organisms from higher trophic levels. Therefore, coarse sediments likely are an ecologically valuable seafloor biotope despite its limited coverage. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gutow, Lars Gusky, Manuela Beermann, Jan Gimenez Noya, Luis Pesch, Roland Bildstein, Tim Heinicke, Kathrin Ebbe, Brigitte |
author_facet |
Gutow, Lars Gusky, Manuela Beermann, Jan Gimenez Noya, Luis Pesch, Roland Bildstein, Tim Heinicke, Kathrin Ebbe, Brigitte |
author_sort |
Gutow, Lars |
title |
Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) |
title_short |
Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) |
title_full |
Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) |
title_fullStr |
Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) |
title_sort |
spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the german bight (se north sea) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutputs/spotlight-on-coarse-sediments-comparative-characterization-of-a-poorly-investigated-seafloor-biotope-in-the-german-bight-se-north-sea(1697bfba-1f51-4298-806a-0a82caa60e57).html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107996 https://research.bangor.ac.uk/ws/files/48822416/YECSS_D_22_00176_main_text_2nd_revision.pdf |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_source |
Gutow , L , Gusky , M , Beermann , J , Gimenez Noya , L , Pesch , R , Bildstein , T , Heinicke , K & Ebbe , B 2022 , ' Spotlight on coarse sediments: comparative characterization of a poorly investigated seafloor biotope in the German Bight (SE North Sea) ' , Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science , vol. 275 , 107996 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107996 |
op_relation |
https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutputs/spotlight-on-coarse-sediments-comparative-characterization-of-a-poorly-investigated-seafloor-biotope-in-the-german-bight-se-north-sea(1697bfba-1f51-4298-806a-0a82caa60e57).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.107996 |
container_title |
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science |
container_volume |
275 |
container_start_page |
107996 |
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1802648094324555776 |