The importance of long-time series of benthic data for science and management

Benthic organisms are important ecological receptors, playing fundamental roles across seafloor ecosystems, delivering some of the most important functions in the marine environment. Some of these key benthic functions include nutrient cycling, food provision for higher trophic levels, and carbon storage. Over the past 6 years, benthic monitoring has faced growing complexity, driven by diminishing funding and the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges underscore the pressing need to recognize the enduring value of benthic time series in supporting monitoring, management, and modelling efforts. These long-term data sets have been critical to advance our current understanding into the areas of cumulative effects, conservation, management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), development of indicators, and assessment of climate-driven changes in marine ecosystems. Ongoing expert group discussions consistently affirm both the relevance and necessity of continuing to collect these vital data sets. However, the focus on emerging technologies and so-called ‘cutting-edge’ approaches sometimes leads to the undervaluation and compromising some of these long-term series. We contend that a comprehensive understanding of benthic ecology, essential for robust marine management, reliable numerical analysis, and taxonomic consistency, cannot be achieved without the continuity provided by long-term data. Such time series are indispensable for tracking patterns of change and assessing responses across diverse human activities and seafloor ecosystems. While our research has concentrated on soft sediment environments, many of the key principles and recommendations outlined here are broadly applicable to other ecosystem types.