Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG). ICES CM 2002/E:07, Ref
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Marine Habitat Committee ICES CM 2002/E:07 Ref. C, ACME REPORT OF THE Benthos Ecology Working Group Tromsø, Norway 24–27 April 2002 This report is not to be quoted without prior consultation with the General Secretary. The document is a report of an expert group under the auspices of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and does not necessarily represent the views of the Council. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Conseil International pour l’Exploration de la Mer Palægade 2–4 DK–1261 Copenhagen K Denmark TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 1 OPENING OF THE MEETING................................................................................................................................. 1 2 APPOINTMENT OF THE RAPPORTEUR.............................................................................................................. 1 3 TERMS OF REFERENCE......................................................................................................................................... 1 4 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA............................................................................................................................... 1 5 REPORT ON ICES MEETINGS AND OTHER MEETINGS OF INTEREST ........................................................ 1 5.1 Report on the ICES Annual Science Conference (Oslo, Norway, 2001)........................................................ 1 5.2 Marine Habitat Committee, Oslo 2001 ........................................................................................................... 2 5.3 Report of the ICES Advisory Committee on Ecosystems, 2001 (Coop. Res. Rep. 249) ................................ 2 5.4 SGQAE/SGQAB meeting, 19–22 February 2002, Copenhagen..................................................................... 2 5.5 Working Group on Marine Habitat Mapping (WGMHM) ............................................................................. 2 5.6 Working Group on Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms (WGITMO)...................................... 2 5.7 Working Group on the Effect of Extraction of Marine Sediments on the Marine Ecosystem (WGEXT) meeting............................................................................................................................................................ 3 5.8 6th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity ............................................................ 3 5.9 ICES Marine Data Management Working Group, 17–19 April, Helsinki ...................................................... 3 5.9.1 SGXML ............................................................................................................................................ 3 5.9.2 WGMDM.......................................................................................................................................... 4 5.9.3 GE/TADE ......................................................................................................................................... 4 6 REPORT OF COOPERATIVE STUDIES AND OTHER STUDIES RELEVANT TO ICES.................................. 4 6.1 Cooperative studies......................................................................................................................................... 4 6.1.1 Study Group on Mapping the Occurrence of Cold-Water Corals ..................................................... 4 6.1.2 Effects of extraction of marine sediments on the marine ecosystem (Coop. Res. Rep. 247)............ 4 6.2 Benthos and fisheries ...................................................................................................................................... 4 6.2.1 Spisula: habitat preferences, surveys, fishery ................................................................................... 4 6.2.2 Outcome of EU PESCA project........................................................................................................ 5 6.2.3 Effects of fishing gear on the benthos............................................................................................... 5 6.2.4 Effects of the non-native red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus on Chlamys islandica beds .... 6 6.3 Benthos of soft sediments ............................................................................................................................... 6 6.3.1 North Sea epifauna sampling by FRS in 2001 .................................................................................. 6 6.3.2 Macrobenthic community structure on the Belgian Continental Shelf ............................................. 7 6.3.3 Progress in Friese Front studies ........................................................................................................ 7 6.3.4 Recovery of benthos from sand extraction........................................................................................7 6.3.5 Recent drastic changes in the soft-bottom macrofauna assemblages above the halocline in the Gulf of Gdansk (southern Baltic proper)................................................................................................... 8 6.3.6 Benthic research in Northern France................................................................................................. 8 6.3.7 Benthic studies in Ferrol Bay, NW Spain .........................................................................................9 6.3.8 Benthic monitoring 1998–2001 at the Basque coast (N. Spain) ....................................................... 9 6.3.9 Benthic research and monitoring at the Smithsonian Institution..................................................... 10 6.3.10 Other U.S. benthic studies .............................................................................................................. 10 6.3.11 Danish Marine Monitoring ............................................................................................................. 11 6.3.12 Estonian Marine Monitoring........................................................................................................... 11 6.4 Benthos of rocky substrates .......................................................................................................................... 12 6.4.1 Long-term monitoring of rocky bottom biotopes using image analysis.......................................... 12 6.5 Assessment of marine quality ....................................................................................................................... 12 6.5.1 A proposal for the use of benthos in ecological quality objectives: the development of a Marine Biotic Index..................................................................................................................................... 12 6.5.2 Ecological monitoring of anthropogenic perturbations of the sea................................................... 13 6.5.3 BEAST............................................................................................................................................ 13 6.5.4 Ecological assessment and biodiversity of the Indian River Lagoon, Eastern Florida ................... 13 6.5.5 Environmental effects arising from marine aggregate extraction ................................................... 14 7 GUIDELINES FOR EPIBENTHOS SAMPLING AND COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION .................................... 15 8 NORTH SEA BENTHOS PROJECT ...................................................................................................................... 15 9 REVIEW OF STUDIES IN NORTHERN SEAS IN COMPARISON WITH, E.G., THE BALTIC SEA AND NORTH SEA – ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING, HUMAN IMPACTS, CRITERIA FOR ECOSYSTEM HEALTH, GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE, IMPACT OF FISHING ACTIVITIES ON THE MARINE BENTHIC SYSTEM.................................................................................................................................................................. 17 i 9.1 Benthic communities in the deep Eurasian Arctic Ocean ............................................................................. 17 9.2 Benthic studies in the White Sea................................................................................................................... 17 9.3 BIOMARE.................................................................................................................................................... 18 9.4 Trajectories of Marine Ecosystem Response to Arctic Climate Change....................................................... 18 9.5 Work in the North Sea and in the northern seas by Norway......................................................................... 18 9.6 Norwegian Benthic Research........................................................................................................................ 18 10 DEVELOPMENT OF THEME SESSION FOR ASC 2003 OR 2004—THE ROLE OF BENTHIC COMMUNITIES AS INDICATORS OF MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY [TOR: D] ......................... 19 11 REVIEW OF FURTHER NEEDS FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN BENTHIC MONITORING AND RESEARCH [TOR: E]............................................................................................................................................. 19 11.1 Outcome of BEQUALM project................................................................................................................... 19 11.2 Ring test experience.....................................................................................................................................