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Size-frequency analysis of the echinoid Echinocyamus pusillus from six offshore areas in the southern North Sea and eastern English Channel reveal five distinct cohorts, suggesting a lifespan of five years. In all six individual areas one or more year-groups are absent, due to the unsuccessful recruitment of planktonic larvae to the seabed in some years, giving a false impression of a shorter lifespan. A relatively long lifespan and planktotrophic larval development are remarkable for such a small species, which reaches a maximum test length of 7.3 mm in the area, such traits being more typical of large-sized macrobenthic species. The feeding mode is akin to that of many meiobenthic taxa. The architecture of the test confers exceptional strength and resilience to mechanical perturbation.

Anthropogenic pressures on the marine environment have escalated and shellfish habitats have declined around the world. Recently, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have rapidly increased in number and extent, but in Europe as elsewhere, management baselines rarely account for historical conditions.In the present study, the Dornoch Firth protected area (NE Scotland) was investigated as well as three adjacent inlets and 50 km of open coastline. The area has low levels of industrial development, is sparsely populated and conservation features were previously considered “Favourable”. The aim of the present study was to investigate the historical presence of native oyster (Ostrea edulis) beds, a habitat that is now rare and of conservation importance throughout Atlantic Europe.Centred on the protected area, but also gathering broader information from East Scotland, an interdisciplinary review was made of archaeological records, navigational charts, historical maps, museum collections, land-use records, fisheries records, public online databases and naturalists’ records. Intertidal and subtidal surveys were also conducted and sample oyster shells were radiocarbon dated.The present study shows that O. edulis occurred in the inlets and open coast areas of NE Scotland, and specifically in the protected area: Probably since the end of the last glaciation to the late 1800s when they were likely fished to extinction. Habitat restoration in protected areas is an emerging global theme. However, marine habitat restoration is highly unusual and European oyster restoration is presently confined to remnant populations with a clear history of exploitation or dwindling associated fisheries. An interdisciplinary review of baselines will probably show scope for O. edulis restoration in many other European MPAs.

Sabellaria spinulosa reefs are considered to be sensitive and of high conservation status. This article evaluates the feasibility of using remote sensing technology to delineate S. spinulosa reefs. S. spinulosa reef habitats associated with the Thanet Offshore Windfarm site were mapped using high resolution sidescan sonar (410 kHz) and multibeam echo sounder (

The gut contents of 90 individuals of common dragonet Callionymus lyra were analysed, of which 76 contained prey, along with 100 corresponding benthic grab samples in order to assess the diet of C. lyra in relation to the availability of its prey in the environment. Forty-five prey taxa were identified in the diet from 350 potential prey taxa identified in the environment. Calculation of the index of relative importance (I(RI)) found the main food components were crustaceans (%I(RI) = 86·3), mostly the porcelain crab Pisidia longicornis (%I(RI) = 43) and other decapods (%I(RI) = 18). Polychaetes played only a supplementary role in the overall diet (%I(RI) = 12·5). This study demonstrated that C. lyra is predominantly an opportunistic feeder that can modify its feeding behaviour to exploit alternative, more abundant prey.

Boccardia proboscidea is recorded for the first time in UK waters. Specimens were discovered at two intertidal sites on the Isle of Skye.

The EUNIS (European Union Nature Information System) habitat classification system aims to provide a common European reference set of habitat types within a hierarchical classification, and to cover all terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats of Europe. The classification facilitates reporting of habitat data in a comparable manner, for use in nature conservation (e.g. inventories, monitoring and assessments), habitat mapping and environmental management. For the marine environment the importance of a univocal habitat classification system is confirmed by the fact that many European initiatives, aimed at marine mapping, assessment and reporting, are increasingly using EUNIS habitat categories and respective codes. For this reason substantial efforts have been made to include information on marine benthic habitats from different regions, aiming to provide a comprehensive geographical coverage of European seas. However, there still remain many concerns on its applicability as only a small fraction of Europe’s seas are fully mapped and increasing knowledge and application raise further issues to be resolved. This paper presents an overview of the main discussion and conclusions of a workshop, organised by the MeshAtlantic project, focusing upon the experience in using the EUNIS habitats classification across different countries and seas, together with case studies. The aims of the meeting were to: (i) bring together scientists with experience in the use of the EUNIS marine classification and representatives from the European Environment Agency (EEA); (ii) agree on enhancements to EUNIS that ensure an improved representation of the European marine habitats; and (iii) establish practices that make marine habitat maps produced by scientists more consistent with the needs of managers and decision-makers. During the workshop challenges for the future development of EUNIS were identified, which have been classified into five categories: (1) structure and hierarchy; (2) biology; (3) terminology; (4) mapping; and (5) future development. The workshop ended with a declaration from the attendees, with recommendations to the EEA and European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity, to take into account the outputs of the workshop, which identify weaknesses in the current classification and include proposals for its modification, and to devise a process to further develop the marine component of the EUNIS habitat classification., Sí

Publisher Summary The Northern Palaeovalley is an open shelf valley system in the English Channel. It is a distinctive erosional feature within the northern half of the eastern English Channel with a particularly well-defined margin on its northern side and an upper break of slope at a depth of 25–30 m with the valley floor generally at depths of 55–75 m. The valley is >100 km long and varies in width from 8 to 20 km. Its floor lies at depths of 45–90 m, with margins up to 30 m high. Net sediment transport is west to east, with rock and coarse sediment in the valley floor in the west and a gradual eastward increase in sand cover and volume, culminating in two large linear sandbanks up to 28 km long along the northeast margin of the valley. The Palaeovalley supports a rich diversity of infaunal and epifaunal communities. Considerable overlap exists in the infaunal communities associated with the different geomorphic features, while the epifaunal communities exhibit far greater variability in response to the environmental gradients. Interstitial polychaetes dominate the macrobenthic communities across the area reflecting the dominance of mobile sediment deposits. The Palaeovalley as a whole is characterized by comparatively rich macrofaunal communities comprising infaunal and epifaunal species in varying proportions. There is significant overlap between the infaunal communities associated with the five geomorphic features in this area, as all are dominated by interstitial polychaetes, many of which are tolerant of a wide range of sediment classes.

The tunnel-valleys of the southern North Sea are arcuate and linear seabed depressions. The origin of these features has been the subject of much discussion, but they are generally considered to have been formed by subglacial erosion and sediment backfill beneath the outer margins of a receding ice sheet. We present here a study of two tunnel-valleys, the Silver Pit and the Sole Pit. Extensive areas of Sabellaria spinulosa reefs have been identified on the western flanks of the Silver Pit that extend down to the valley floor, representing a resource of significant conservation interest. The eastern flanks were found to support a diverse faunal assemblage with widespread hydroid and bryozoans turfs and abundant ascidians. The seabed of the Sole Pit is characterized by much sandier deposits than that of the Silver Pit, and it supports an abundant bivalve community, dominated by Abra alba. This bivalve assemblage also contains Coarcuta obliquata, which has only been recorded once before in the UK.

Many governments have recognised the need to utilise a blend of conventional and alternative energy sources to meet future energy demands, with an increasing focus upon producing clean and renewable energy, as well as investigating the offshore geological storage of carbon dioxide. The marine environment is likely to make a significant contribution to securing the future energy needs of many countries. Seabed site characterisation constitutes a critical part of the engineering design process; it contributes also to our understanding of the potential environmental impacts of marine energy generation and carbon capture and storage. Significant infrastructure is required also to support these emerging industries, including cables and pipelines to transfer energy and carbon dioxide across the seafloor: all of these add to the environmental footprint of renewable energy development. Consequently, the development of standards and best practices, for site and submarine transmission corridor characterisation and environmental impact assessment, are important requirements in developing national and international strategies to the transition to a world of lower carbon emissions.

Desprez, M., Pearce, B., and Le Bot, S. 2010. The biological impact of overflowing sands around a marine aggregate extraction site: Dieppe (eastern English Channel). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 270–277. The study investigates the physical impact of sediment deposition associated with aggregate dredging at a site off Dieppe, and the consequences for benthic fauna. Sampling stations were sited across potential zones of impact classified as high, moderate, and low deposition, depending on their proximity to dredging activities and their position relative to the net sediment transport route. Samples were also taken west of the dredge site outside the zone of likely impact (no deposition). A strong gradient was observed from the sediments dominated by fine sands in the high and moderate deposition zones, through to coarse sands and gravels in the low and no deposition zones. The benthic fauna sampled from the deposits of fine sand in the high and moderate deposition zones were sparse compared with the coarser deposits sampled from the low and no deposition zones. There was a strong correspondence between the distribution of different sediment fractions and the associated benthic fauna, with a weighted Spearman rank correlation of 0.638, higher than reported in related studies. This suggests that in deposition areas such as this, biological interactions play a less important role in shaping communities than the changes in the physical environment, which may have a greater impact on the biological communities.