title: Biological effects of long term fine limestone tailings discharge in a fjord ecosystem.
abstract: Benthic infaunal data collected from 1993 to 2010 were analysed to examine the effect of long term discharge of fine limestone tailings on macrofaunal species assemblages in a fjord. Relative distance from the outfall and proportion of fine tailings in the sediment were correlated with benthic community structure. Diversity decreased with increasing proportion of fine tailings. Biological Traits Analysis (BTA) was used to explore the temporal and spatial effects of the tailings gradient on macrofaunal functional attributes. BTA revealed that all stations along a pressure gradient of fine limestone tailings were dominated by free-living species. As the proportion of fine tailings in the sediment increased, there was an increase in fauna that were smaller, highly mobile, living on or nearer the surface sediment, with shorter lifespans. There was a decrease in permanent tube dwellers, those fauna with low or no mobility, that live deeper in the sediment and have longer lifespans (>5 yrs).
authors.affiliation: DNVGL, Veritasveien 1, 1363 Høvik, Norway. Electronic address: lucy.brooks@dnvgl.com.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.affiliation: DNVGL, Veritasveien 1, 1363 Høvik, Norway.
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Melsom
authors.affiliation: DNVGL, Veritasveien 1, 1363 Høvik, Norway.
authors.forename: Tormod
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Glette
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002119:Calcium Carbonate; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D063366:Estuaries; D007448:Invertebrates; D008906:Mining; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014873:Water Pollutants; D002119:Calcium Carbonate
keywords: Biological Traits Analysis; Frænfjord; Marine benthic fauna; Mine tailings; Norway