title: Similar diversity-disturbance responses to different physical impacts: three cases of small-scale biodiversity increase in the Belgian part of the North Sea.
abstract: Human activities at sea are still increasing. As biodiversity is a central topic in the management of our seas, it is important to understand how diversity responds to different disturbances related with physical impacts. We investigated the effects of three impacts, i.e. sand extraction, dredge disposal and offshore wind energy exploitation, on the soft-bottom macrobenthic assemblages in the Belgian part of the North Sea. We found similar diversity-disturbance responses, mainly related to the fact that different impacts caused similar environmental changes. We observed a sediment refinement which triggered a shift towards a heterogenic, dynamic (transitional) soft-bottom macrobenthic assemblage, with several species typically associated with muddy sands. This led to a local unexpected biodiversity increase in the impacted area. On a wider regional scale, the ever increasing human impacts might lead to a homogenization of the sediment, resulting in a more uniform, yet less diverse benthic ecosystem.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Animal Sciences Unit, Bio-Environmental Research, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium. Electronic address: annelies.debacker@ilvo.vlaanderen.be.
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Backer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Animal Sciences Unit, Bio-Environmental Research, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van Hoey
authors.affiliation: Marine Biology Research Group, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coates
authors.affiliation: Marine Biology Research Group, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vanaverbeke
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Animal Sciences Unit, Bio-Environmental Research, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hostens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001530:Belgium; D044822:Biodiversity; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D009659:North Sea
keywords: Diversity-disturbance response; Dredge disposal; Macrobenthos; Offshore wind energy exploitation; Sand extraction; Soft sediments