Övervakning av mjukbottenfaunan längs Sveriges västkust Rapport från verksamheten år 2002

• Summary in English The soft-sediment macrofauna of the west coast of Sweden is monitored by comission of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The purpose is to detect long time changes in the marine environment, principally caused by eutrophication and oxygen deficiency. 31 localities along the West coast of Sweden were sampled in May 2002. Four samples were taken with a 0.1m2 Smith-McIntyre grab at 12 localities and two samples at 19 localities. The red-ox condition of the sediment was measured at each locality and samples for plant pigment analyses were taken. All fauna retrieved on a 1mm sieve was taxonomically identified and counted. The report is based on the 19 localities which are analyzed up to now. A total of 17.306 individuals belonging to 204 different species are identified so far. Neither the red-ox measurements nor the oxygen measurements, performed within the monitoring program of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, indicate that there had been any periods with critically low oxygen levels at any of the localities during the year. There were no significant relation between the amount of plant pigment and the depth at the locality or the loss of ignition of the sediment. Analysis of similarity in the community structure between localities show that those located shallower than 50 m are, in some respects, faunistically different than localities situated deeper than 50 m. The faunistic analyses indicate that it has been an increase in abundance and biomass of the opportunistic sub surface deposit feeding polychaet Scalibregma inflatum in the deeper parts of Skagerrak, especially in the northern area. This is probably a result of an increased organic input into these water masses.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Monitoring

Benthic fauna

Swedish westcoast

community structure

depth

organic input

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)