Functional Ecology | Ecosystem Functions | North Sea
The North Sea
Intensive utilization of the North Sea, e.g., transport, extraction and disposal of sand, laying of cables and pipes, fishery, and –for the last few years- area intensive usage by offshore wind farms result in an increase in anthropogenic stress on the environment.
A state-of-the-art ecosystem management and modern environmental protection aim at sustainable usage of our coasts, focusing on key functions of the ecosystem.
A better understanding of ecological functioning and the responses of the system to stress is therefore essential. Knowledge of the corridor of natural variability and comprehension of ecologically relevant scales, spatial as well as temporal, is an indispensable prerequisite for the distinction between anthropogenic and natural impacts.
Key Activities
We are investigating
the distribution of the benthos on different spatial (local-regional) and temporal (seasonal-long-term) scales
effects of natural and anthropogenic change on the benthic system, i.e., ecosystem shifts caused by environmental shifts
the ecological functioning of the benthos, i.e., the coupling of regulating environmental factors and ecosystem functions including consequential ecosystem services
To that end we are employing an extensive base of reliable, validated and georeferenced data from the southern North Sea collected during several decades of sampling. Models are coupled to these data, and the results are made accessible to agencies, decision makers, scientists, and the interested public through information systems and visualization tools.
Content: The long-term series is aiming at analyzing the influence of climate change on benthic communities. Since 1969 three stations, and since 1981 an additional station, have been sampled that are thought to represent the different benthic communities. Such long-term data present a treasure trove allowing for the analysis of structural and functional change in the ecosystem.
Content: The Federal Republic of Germany is obligated by the European Union to regularly assess and evaluate the status of the benthic biotopes in its territorial waters. By order of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) a benthos monitoring program shall be initialized and established that fulfills the specifications of relevant directives and conventions for the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the North Sea. In particular the issues of the Flora Fauna Habitat directive (FFH), the Marine Strategy Framework directive (MSFD), the Oslo-Paris convention (OSPAR) and the Federal Nature Conservation law (BNatSchG) are to be addressed. In the process a consistent evaluation system ensuring as much as possible a synergistic monitoring concurrently addressing all issues shall be developed.
Funding: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN)
