Publication Abstract

Structure and function of food webs at contrasting sites in the central and southern North Sea: assessing impacts of change

Structure and function of food webs at contrasting sites in the central and southern North Sea: assessing impacts of change.

Painting*, S., Birchenough*, S., Bolam*, S., Coughlan*, C., Forster*, R., Greenwood*, N., Kürten, B., Oosterhuis, S., Neubacher*, E., Parker*, R., Ruardij, P.

The structure and function of pelagic and benthic food webs at 3 eco-hydrodynamically distinct sites in the North Sea were studied during 7 cruises in 2007 and 2008. One site was in the southern Bight (SB), where the water column (ca 30m deep) is typically turbid and well mixed throughout the year. The other two sites were in the central North Sea, where the water column is deeper and stratifies seasonally: at the Oyster Grounds (OG, ca 45m) and north of the Dogger Bank (ND, ca 80m). Semi-autonomous in situ monitoring systems were deployed to obtain high frequency measurements of temporal changes in physico-chemical characteristics and chlorophyll concentrations at each site during the study period. Field measurements were used to validate 1-D coupled physical-biological models for each site, which were used to calculate carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fluxes through both the benthic and pelagic compartments. Models were used to identify key processes affecting benthic-pelagic coupling and productivity at each site, and to assess impacts of environmental change on C and N budgets.

Painting*, S., Birchenough*, S., Bolam*, S., Coughlan*, C., Forster*, R., Greenwood*, N., Kürten, B., Oosterhuis, S., Neubacher*, E., Parker*, R., Ruardij, P

IMBER IMBIZO II. October 10-14, 2010. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Greece.