Circadiel patterns in the tidal plankton of a sandy beach in Zeebrugge (Belgium)

The intertidal fauna of a Belgian sandy beach was sampled on an hourly basis with a hand-pushed sledge to study circadiel patterns in species composition. Four assemblages could be distinguished with classification and ordination techniques. A first division separated the samples taken during daytime from the night samples. Both assemblages were subsequently divided into an ebbtide and a floodtide situation. Light intensity and tidal height were the most important variables explaining the variation in the Canonical Correspondence Analysis.