Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
-
Generalized changes of benthic communities after construction of wind farms in the southern North Sea
- Over the last years, the development of offshore renewable energy installations such as offshore wind farms led to an increasing number of man-made structures in marine environments. Since 2009, benthic impact monitoring programs were carried out in wind farms installed in the southern North Sea. We collated and analyzed data sets from three major monitoring programs. Our analysis considered a total of 2849 sampling points converted to a set of biodiversity response metrics. We analyzed biodiversity changes related to the implementation of offshore wind farms and generalized the correlation of these changes with spatial and temporal patterns. Our results demonstrate that depth, season and distance to structure (soft-bottom community) consistently determined di- versity indicators and abundance parameters, whereas the age and the country affiliation were significantly related to some but not all indices. The water depth was the most important structuring factor for fouling communities while seasonal effects were driving most of the observed changes in soft-sediment communities. We demonstrate that a meta-analysis can provide an improved level of understanding of ecological patterns on large- scale effects of anthropogenic structures on marine biodiversity, which were not visible in single monitoring studies. We believe that meta-analyses should become an indispensable tool for management of offshore wind farm effects in the future, particularly in the view of the foreseen development of offshore renewable energies. This might lead to a better picture and more comprehensive view on potential alterations. However, this requires a modern open-source data policy and data management, across institutions and across national borders.
-
Amino Acid Fingerprinting to Distinguish Between Faecal Pellets of Fouling Fauna near an Offshore Wind Farm
- Installation of OWFs have increased with the aim to combat climate change. They act as hard substrates which facilitates the growth of fouling fauna that are capable of enriching the sediments surrounding OWFs. Hence, biogeochemical changes occur and potentially creates a carbon sink, possibly demonstrating an unexpected positive effect of OWFs. Faecal pellets released by fouling fauna cannot be easily distinguished from other end-members of the OM pool (phytoplankton, zooplankton) and therefore this enrichment pathway has not been quantified yet. This study focused on optimising a CSIA-AA protocol for the novel use of amino acid fingerprinting of the FPs of dominant fouling fauna collected from an OWF in Belgium and investigate species-specific and season-stable patterns in AAs. Results suggested that the CSIA-AA protocol was successful in characterising the AAs in the FPs and were able to identify trophic AAs (increase in δ 15 N with trophic level) that were species- specific (alanine and isoleucine) and some that were stable across seasons (aspartic acid and leucine). Hence, future research can use CSIA-AA to accurately identify season-stable tracers that are specific to fouling fauna, characterise other end-members of the OM pool and estimate the contribution of each member to the carbon budget of an OWF.
-
Priorities for ocean microbiome research
- Microbial communities have essential roles in ocean ecology and planetary health. Microbes participate in nutrient cycles, remove huge quantities of carbon dioxide from the air and support ocean food webs. The taxonomic and functional diversity of the global ocean microbiome has been revealed by technological advances in sampling, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics. A better understanding of the ocean microbiome could underpin strategies to address environmental and societal challenges, including achievement of multiple Sustainable Development Goals way beyond SDG 14 ‘life below water’. We propose a set of priorities for understanding and protecting the ocean microbiome, which include delineating interactions between micro- biota, sustainably applying resources from oceanic microorganisms and creating policy- and funder-friendly ocean education resources, and discuss how to achieve these ambitious goals.
-
Physiological response to seawater pH of the bivalve Abra alba, a benthic ecosystem engineer, is modulated by low pH
- The presence and behaviour of bivalves can affect the functioning of seafloor sediments through the irrigation of deeper strata by feeding and respiring through siphonal channels. Here, we investigated the physiological response and consecutive impact on functioning and body condition of the white furrow shell Abra alba in three pH treatments (pH = 8.2, pH = 7.9 and pH = 7.7). Although no pH effect on survival was found, lowered respiration and calcification rates, decreased energy intake (lower absorption rate) and increased metabolic losses (increased excretion rates) occurred at pH ~ 7.7. These physiological responses resulted in a negative Scope for Growth and a decreased condition index at this pH. This suggests that the physiological changes may not be sufficient to sustain survival in the long term, which would undoubtedly translate into consequences for ecosystem functioning.
-
Protecting the marine environment whilst installing offshore windfarms: the effect of scour protection layers on benthic biodiversity
- The North Sea will soon see the installation of a higher number of wind turbine foundations, greatly expanding the habitat options for reef species. These offshore structures constitute a new, artificial, hard substratum habitat on the Belgian continental shelf, where the seafloor is primarily made up of muddy and sandy sediment. The possibility of co-designing offshore wind farms with more microhabitats through increasing habitat complexity is one method for the multiple uses of wind farms. This method is known as nature-inclusive building. The structure and dynamics of ecological communities are significantly influenced by habitat complexity. Hence, an increased complexity frequently results in greater species variety and abundance. The objective of this study was to investigate whether adding complexity to the scour protection layer (SPL) increased the diversity and functionality of the ecosystem already present at the bottom of wind turbines (macrobenthos community). To study this, three different variables of 76 species were analysed: richness, biomass, and abundance. Despite being the first time to manipulate the SPL of wind farms, it has been possible to observe and demonstrate that the complexity of these structures affects the ecosystem’s richness. Of the four different treatments, a greater number of species were observed in the most complex ones (3 and 4) compared to the others. In addition, although there were no significant differences, trends of higher biomass of certain species (belonging to decapods and sea anemones) were observed in the presence of higher complexity. Conversely, the constant presence of amphipods was observed across all the treatments. With this study, we wanted to emphasise the importance of the artificial reef effect of the SPL and, together with the microhabitats that it can provide, if at the time of its construction, an attempt is made from an “eco-friendlier” perspective, combining the knowledge of ingested together with the biological. In addition, it provides more knowledge and understanding of this methodology by improving it and obtaining results more similar to those expected in the future.
-
Long-term impacts of offshore wind farms presence on benthic communities in the Belgian part of the North Sea
- This study investigates the long-term impacts of offshore wind farms (OWFs) on macrobenthic communities at a far distance (250-500 m) from wind turbines in the C-Power offshore wind farm, on the ThorntonBank (Belgian Part of the North Sea) over a time span of 15 years (2005- 2020). We anticipated that due to the changes in hydrodynamics around wind turbines, together with the increase in depositional flow of faecal pellets produced by filter-feeding epifauna living on the foundation of the wind turbine, there will be an increase in macrobenthic abundance and species richness, as well as a shift in macrobenthos community composition. We also hypothesized that owing to fishery exclusion in offshore wind farms concession areas the ThorntonBank (impact area) and GooteBank (reference area) would grow apart from each other in terms of abundance and species richness, as well as in terms of species composition. Our 15 years analysis supported the hypothesis of an increase in macrobenthic abundance and species richness as fine sediment fraction and total organic matter content increase within the sediment of OWFs. The appearance and subsequent increase in Terebellidae sp. and Ophelia borealis suggested a shift in macrobenthos community composition when compared to the baseline study of 2005. However, changes in macrobenthic abundance, species richness and species composition were observed on both sandbanks, suggesting that either human activities that once took place on the GooteBank affected the communities there, or adding wind turbine does not generate strong impacts on macrobenthic communities. The observed fluctuations over the years could then be due to normal fluctuations in macrobenthos, or that other factors are at play such as climate change. However, in order to confirm these statements, additional studies on macrobenthos within the Belgian Part of the North Sea should be done on the long term. Further analysis should also be carried out in order to confirm the potential shift from a Nepthys cirrosa community toward an Abra alba community
-
WORKSHOP TO SCOPE ASSESSMENT METHODS TO SET THRESHOLDS (WKBENTH2)
- The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires Member States to achieve good en- vironmental status (GES) across their marine waters. The EU have requested ICES to advise on methods for assessing adverse effects on seabed habitats, through selection of relevant indicators for the assessment of benthic habitats and seafloor integrity and associated threshold values for GES in relation to Descriptor 6 – Seabed integrity under the MFSD. Two sets of criteria were developed to evaluate indicators and thresholds respectively for eval- uation of suitability for assessing GES. 16 indicator and 12 threshold criteria were compiled and weighted by importance. The criteria were designed for evaluation at a subregional or regional level. The scoring for these criteria is meant as a guidance when choosing indicators and thresh- olds, so failure to meet one criterion will not necessarily prevent the use of the indicator or thresh- old in an assessment. The framework was evaluated for 6 indicators and for 11 methods for set- ting thresholds. The criteria were found to be useful for evaluation both indicators and thresh- olds. The process works most consistently when there are experts in the group on both the crite- ria themselves and on the indicators and thresholds. The MFSD Descriptor 6 determination of GES needs both a quality threshold (when are seabed habitats in a good state in a specific location) and an extent threshold (proportion of the assess- ment area that needs to have seabed habitats in good state). Eleven different methods for setting thresholds were identified, of which more are suitable for setting quality than for extent thresh- olds. Preferred methods identified an ecologically-motivated difference between a good and de- graded state, rather than another transition. Quality thresholds based on the lower boundary of the range of natural variation were considered most promising. This approach can be used for most, but not all, indicators. The WK collated a standardized dataset to test the specificity, sensitivity and/or responsiveness of sampling-based benthic indicators to pressure gradients for evaluation by WKBENTH3. Risk- based methods will be evaluated as maps and by scored sensitivity and impact score per MSFD habitat type and subdivision. Participants provided input into the selection of indicators for the compilation of indicators. A template was developed for documenting the characteristics of each indicator to facilitate the evaluation of the indicators.
-
A quarter of the Belgian Cerambycidae beetles fauna found in the botanical garden Jean Massart (Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium)
-
Three new localities for Gnoriums nobilis in northern Belgium (Coleoptera: Cetoniidae)
-
Pentaphyllus testaceus (hellwig, 1792) in de Botanische Tuin Jean Massart (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)
-
A century of temporal stability of genetic diversity in wild bumblebees
-
Discovery of a new inland population of Amara strenua Zimmerman, 1832 at Heverlee, central Belgium (Coleoptera: Carabidae)
-
Recent freshwater ostracods (Crustacea) from Brazilian floodplains.
-
Predicting climate change effects on the functional diversity of freshwater Ostracoda (Crustacea).
-
The effect of the increase of temperature on the structure of dormant aquatic microfauna: perspectives for climate change.
-
Distribution of freshwater ostracoda (Crustacea) collected from wells of Benin : a preliminary study.
-
Challenges in Freshwater Biodiversity: the Case of Data Publishing
-
Is the ostracod fauna similar between native and non-native macrophytes?
-
Two new genera of Physocypria sensu latu (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from Neotropical floodplains
-
On a new genus and four new species of the subfamily Cyprettinae Hartmann, 1971 (Ostracoda, Crustacea) from tropical floodplains in Brazil.
