RBINS Open Access Library

Energy (including cables and pipes): Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Effect of pile driving on the seasonal and geographical distribution of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phoecoena) in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Organic matter processing in a [simulated] offshore wind farm ecosystem in current and future climate and aquaculture scenarios: The rapid development of blue economy and human use of offshore space triggered the concept of co-location of ma- rine activities and is causing diverse local pressures on the environment. These pressures add to, and interact with, global challenges such as ocean acidiﬁcation and warming. This study investigates the combined pressures of climate change and the planned co-location of offshore wind farm (OWF) and aquaculture zones on the carbon ﬂow through epifaunal communities inhabiting wind turbines in the North Sea. A 13 C-labelled phytoplankton pulse-chase experi- ment was performed in mesocosms (4 m 3 ) holding undisturbed hard-substrate (HS) communities, natural sediment with infauna, and mobile invertebrate predators. Carbon assimilation was quantiﬁed under current and predicted future-climate conditions (+3 °C and −0.3 pH units), as well as a future-climate co-use scenario with blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) aquaculture. Climate change induced an increase in macrofaunal carbon assimilation as well as an organic enrichment of underlying sediments. Dynamic (non-)trophic links between M. edulis and other HS epifauna resulted in shifts among the species contributing most to the phytoplankton-derived carbon ﬂow across climate scenar- ios. Increased inter- and intraspeciﬁc resource competition in the presence of M. edulis aquaculture prevented a large increase in the total assimilation of phytoplankton by HS fauna. Lower individual carbon assimilation rates by both mussels and other epifauna suggest that if ﬁlter capacity by HS epifauna would approach renewal by advection/ mixing, M. edulis individuals would likely grow to a smaller-than-desired commercial size. In the same scenario, ben- thic organic carbon mineralisation was signiﬁcantly boosted due to increased organic matter deposition by the aqua- culture set-up. Combining these results with in situ OWF abundance data conﬁrmed M. edulis as the most impactful OWF AHS species in terms of (total) carbon assimilation as well as the described stress responses due to climate change and the addition of bivalve aquaculture.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Subtidal Natural Hard Substrate Quantitative Habitat Mapping: Interlinking Underwater Acoustics and Optical Imagery with Machine Learning: Subtidal natural hard substrates (SNHS) promote occupancy by rich benthic communities that provide irreplaceable and fundamental ecosystem functions, representing a global priority target for nature conservation and recognised in most European environmental legislation. However, scientiﬁcally validated methodologies for their quantitative spatial demarcation, including information on species occupancy and ﬁne-scale environmental drivers (e.g., the effect of stone size on colonisation) are rare. This is, however, crucial information for sound ecological management. In this investigation, high-resolution (1 m) multibeam echosounder (MBES) depth and backscatter data and derivates, underwater imagery (UI) by video drop-frame, and grab sediment samples, all acquired within 32 km²of seaﬂoor in offshore Belgian waters, were integrated to produce a random forest (RF) spatial model, predicting the continuous distribution of the seaﬂoor areal cover/m² of the stones’ grain sizes promoting colonisation by sessile epilithic organisms. A semi-automated UI acquisition, processing, and analytical workﬂow was set up to quantitatively study the colonisation proportion of different grain sizes, identifying the colonisation potential to begin at stones with grain sizes Ø ≥ 2 cm. This parameter (i.e., % areal cover of stones Ø ≥ 2 cm/m²) was selected as the response variable for spatial predictive modelling. The model output is presented along with a protocol of error and uncertainty estimation. RF is conﬁrmed as an accurate, versatile, and transferable mapping methodology, applicable to area-wide mapping of SNHS. UI is conﬁrmed as an essential aid to acoustic seaﬂoor classiﬁcation, providing spatially representative numerical observations needed to carry out quantitative seaﬂoor modelling of ecologically relevant parameters. This contribution sheds innovative insights into the ecologically relevant delineation of subtidal natural reef habitat, exploiting state-of-the-art underwater remote sensing and acoustic seaﬂoor classiﬁcation approaches.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Offshore Wind Farm Footprint on Organic and Mineral Particle Flux to the Bottom.: Offshore wind farms (OWFs) are an important source of renewable energy accounting for 2.3% of the European Union’s electricity demand. Yet their impact on the environment needs to be assessed. Here, we couple a hydrodynamic (including tides and waves) and sediment transport model with a description of the organic carbon and mineral particle dynamics in the water column and sediments. The model is applied to the Belgian Coastal Zone (BCZ) where OWFs currently occupy 7% of its surface area which is estimated to double in the next 5 years. The impact of OWFs on the environment is represented through the ﬁltration of the water column and fecal pellets production by the blue mussel, the dominant fouling organism. Our model simulations show that the impact of biodeposition on the mud particle sedimentation and on sediment composition is small compared to the ﬂuxes associated with tidal deposition and resuspension and the lateral inputs. In contrast, the total organic carbon (TOC) ﬂux to the sediment is signiﬁcantly altered inside the OWF perimeters and TOC deposition is increased up to 50% in an area 5 km around the monopiles. Further away, the TOC ﬂux to the bottom decreases with a notable effect up to 30 km away. The major changes are found along the direction of the main residual current and tidal ellipse’s major axis. In addition, sub-mesoscale gyres act as retention areas with increased carbon deposition. A future OWF in the BCZ will be located close to gravel beds in a Natura 2000 area, considered as vulnerable habitats and biodiversity hotspots. The different scenarios for this OWF, varying in turbine number and positioning, are compared in terms of impact on the carbon and mineral particle deposition ﬂux in the BCZ and, particularly, to these gravel beds. The scenarios show that the number of turbines has only a slight impact on the TOC deposition ﬂux, unlike their positioning that signiﬁcantly alters the TOC ﬂux to the gravel beds. The TOC deposition ﬂux exceeds 50%, when the turbines are placed next to the gravel beds; while a limited increase is simulated, when the turbines are located the farthest possible from them.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Offshore wind farms and the attraction–production hypothesis: insights from a combination of stomach content and stable isotope analyses: Offshore wind farms (OWFs) act as arti- ﬁcial reefs, attracting high abundances of ﬁsh, which could potentially increase their local production. This study investigates the feeding ecology of ﬁsh species that abundantly occur at artiﬁcial habitats, such as OWFs, by examining the short- and the long-term dietary composition of ﬁve species: the benthopelagic Gadus morhua and Trisopterus luscus, the pelagic Scomber scombrus and Trachurus trachurus, and the benthic Myoxocephalus scorpioides. We conducted combined stomach content and stable isotope analyses to examine the short- and the time-integrated dietary composition, respectively. Our results indicated that benthopelagic and benthic species utilize artiﬁcial reefs, such as OWFs, as feeding grounds for a prolonged period, since both analyses indicated that they exploit fouling organisms occurring exclusively on artiﬁcial hard substrates. Trachurus trachurus only occasionally uses artiﬁcial reefs as oases of highly abundant resources. Scomber scombrus does not feed on fouling fauna and therefore its augmented presence in OWFs is probably related to reasons other than the enhanced food availability. The long-termed feeding preferences of benthic and benthopelagic species contribute to the hypothesis that the artiﬁcial reefs of OWFs could potentially increase the ﬁsh production in the area. However, this was not supported for the pelagic species.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
WinMon.BE, Using a decade of WinMon.BE results to plan for the future: Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Should we value biofouling communities?: Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Subtidal Natural Hard Substrate Quantitative Habitat Mapping: Interlinking Underwater Acoustics and Optical Imagery with Machine Learning: Subtidal natural hard substrates (SNHS) promote occupancy by rich benthic communities that provide irreplaceable and fundamental ecosystem functions, representing a global priority target for nature conservation and recognised in most European environmental legislation. However, scientifically validated methodologies for their quantitative spatial demarcation, including information on species occupancy and fine-scale environmental drivers (e.g., the effect of stone size on colonisation) are rare. This is, however, crucial information for sound ecological management. In this investigation, high-resolution (1 m) multibeam echosounder (MBES) depth and backscatter data and derivates, underwater imagery (UI) by video drop-frame, and grab sediment samples, all acquired within 32 km2 of seafloor in offshore Belgian waters, were integrated to produce a random forest (RF) spatial model, predicting the continuous distribution of the seafloor areal cover/m2 of the stones’ grain sizes promoting colonisation by sessile epilithic organisms. A semi-automated UI acquisition, processing, and analytical workflow was set up to quantitatively study the colonisation proportion of different grain sizes, identifying the colonisation potential to begin at stones with grain sizes Ø ≥ 2 cm. This parameter (i.e., % areal cover of stones Ø ≥ 2 cm/m2) was selected as the response variable for spatial predictive modelling. The model output is presented along with a protocol of error and uncertainty estimation. RF is confirmed as an accurate, versatile, and transferable mapping methodology, applicable to area-wide mapping of SNHS. UI is confirmed as an essential aid to acoustic seafloor classification, providing spatially representative numerical observations needed to carry out quantitative seafloor modelling of ecologically relevant parameters. This contribution sheds innovative insights into the ecologically relevant delineation of subtidal natural reef habitat, exploiting state-of-the-art underwater remote sensing and acoustic seafloor classification approaches.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Samenvatting v.d. volledige milieuvergunningsprocedure in de vorm v.e. flow-chart: Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications

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