Community structure and bioturbation potential of macrofauna at four North Sea stations with contrasting food supply

We investigated the macrobenthic faunal composition, vertical distribution, biomass, abundance and trophic structure in 4 North Sea sediments with contrasting quantity and quality of organic matter and with different hydrodynamic environments. The vertical distribution of macrofauna biomass generally followed the TOC (total organic carbon) profiles. The trophic structure reflected differences in relative quality of the organic matter. In the high amount-high quality TOC sediment at the German Eight station, most organisms were found at shallow sediment depths (

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