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Enrichment and shifts in macrobenthic assemblages in an offshore wind farm area in the Belgian part of the North Sea
Coates, D.; Deschutter, Y.; Vincx, M.; Vanaverbeke, J. (2014). Enrichment and shifts in macrobenthic assemblages in an offshore wind farm area in the Belgian part of the North Sea. Mar. Environ. Res. 95: 1-12. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2013.12.008
In: Marine Environmental Research. Applied Science Publishers: Barking. ISSN 0141-1136; e-ISSN 1879-0291
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open Marine Archive 313842 [ download pdf ]
Keywords
    Aquatic communities > Benthos
    Composition > Community composition
    Environmental impact
    Resources > Natural resources > Energy resources > Wind power
    Small scale
    Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766) [WoRMS]
    ANE, Belgium [Marine Regions]; ANE, North Sea [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Benthic ecology; Permeable sediments
Authors  Top 
  • Coates, D.
  • Deschutter, Y.
  • Vincx, M.
  • Vanaverbeke, J.
Abstract
    The growing development of offshore wind energy installations across the North Sea is producing new hard anthropogenic structures in the natural soft sediments, causing changes to the surrounding macrobenthos. The extent of modification in permeable sediments around a gravity based wind turbine in the Belgian part of the North Sea was investigated in the period 2011 – 2012, along four gradients (south-west, north-east, south-east, north-west). Sediment grain size significantly reduced from 427 µm at 200 m to 312 ± 3 µm at 15 m from the foundation along the south-west and north-west gradients. The organic matter content increased from 0.4 ± 0.01% at 100 m to 2.5 ± 0.9% at 15 m from the foundation. The observed changes in environmental characteristics triggered an increase in the macrobenthic density from 1390 ± 129 ind m-2 at 200 m to 18 583 ± 6713 ind m-2 at 15 m together with an enhanced diversity from 10 ± 2 at 200 m to 30 ± 5 species per sample at 15 m. Shifts in species dominance were also detected with a greater dominance of the ecosystem-engineer Lanice conchilega (16–25%) close to the foundation. This study suggests a viable prediction of the effects offshore wind farms could create to the naturally occurring macrobenthos on a large-scale.
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