Macrobenthos characteristics and distribution, following intensive sand extraction from a subtidal sandbank

Macrobenthic fauna are investigated, to establish the nature and vulnerability of benthic communities to aggregate mining on a subtidal sandbank, the Kwinte Bank, in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Within the central part of this sandbank, a depression (5 m deep) has been created, as a result of 20 years of dredging over the same small area (1 km long and 700 m wide). Three stations were sampled within this central depression; two on the western border; and two to the east of the depression. Another station was sampled in a “non-exploited” area to the north of the depression. Four station... Mehr ...