North Sea ecological time series (LTER)

Just as the physical time series the biological AWI time series are also generated at pretty much all AWI sites and encompass almost all components of the marine foodweb from bacteria to fish. The data are collected useing a multitude of methods from counts to automated sensors and molecular methods to capture the full diversity local communities.

Collectively and individually our time series deliver vital baseline data for the evaluation of future climate change related impacts on marine ecosystems but also help to understand fundamental ecosystem processes in often not easily accesible geographic areas.

All our time series are also integral components of a large number of national and international collaborations in EU projects and Boards and organizations such as ICES and SCOR. 

Important publications for some key AWI North Sea time series:

Helgoland Roads phytoplankton: Wiltshire, K. H., A. Kraberg, I. Bartsch, M. Boersma, H. D. Franke, J. Freund, C. Gebühr, G. Gerdts, K. Stockmann, and A. Wichels. 2010. Helgoland Roads: 45 years of change in the North Sea. Estuaries and Coasts DOI 10.1007/s12237-009-9228-y.

Helgoland zooplankton: Boersma, M., K. H. Wiltshire, S.-M. Kong, W. Greve, and J. Renz. 2015. Long-term change in the copepod community in the southern German Bight. Jornal of Sea Research 101:41-50.

North Sea Benthos: Künitzer, A. , Basford, D. , Craeymeersch, J. A. , Dewarumez, J. M. , Dörjes, J. , Duineveld, G. C. A. , Eleftheriou, A. , Heip, C. , Herman, P. , Kingston, P. , Niermann, U. , Rachor, E. , Rumohr, H. and Dewilde, P. A. J. (1992) The benthic infauna of the North Sea species distribution and assemblages , ICES J Mar Sci , 49 , pp. 127-143 .

Further time series and Data sets: Sylt Benthos data

Sylt Benthos (2001 to 2011)

Macrofauna was sampled annually for a period of 10 years. The high resolution (with approximately 100 samples per year) makes this a unique dataset for the study of macrofaunal community dynamics at different spatial and temporal scales

Contact: 

Werner Armonies

Dario Fiorentino