1. The ICES North Sea Benthos Project: Objectives and Data Management Hubert Rees 1, Eike Rachor 2, Edward Vanden Berghe 3 1 CEFAS, Burnham Laboratory; 2 AWI; 3 VLIZ The ICES Study Group on the North Sea Benthos Project 2000 (an offshoot of the ICES Benthos Ecology Working Group) is integrating recent macrobenthic infaunal data (1999-2001) available from various sources, including national monitoring surveys. The main goal is an overall comparison with the ICES North Sea Benthos Survey data of 1986 (see Künitzer et al., 1992), in order to determine whether there have been any significant changes and, if so, what may be the causal influences (e.g., climate change, fishing impacts). The work will contribute valuable information on several other topics such as habitat classification and the distribution of sensitive and opportunistic species. In addition to physico-chemical measurements of sediment samples alongside the benthic fauna, information on water depths, temperature, water quality and salinity will be incorporated in the analysis of species and community distributions. Also, we will use existing ecological and hydrographical models for currents, bottom shear stress and carbon input, along with information on the distribution of habitat types, to explain the observed distribution patterns. Data received from the project participants were uploaded into a central database. The database itself is an MS SQL server database, with a front-end developed in MS Access. For the taxonomy/species lists, no separate database was developed, but the ‘Aphia’, existing species register at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) was used. The structure for the taxonomic information was adapted from the structure of the ITIS database. The taxonomic hierarchy is implemented as an open-ended hierarchy, where every taxonomic name or name part is stored in a single record, together with a pointer to a ‘parent’ record. Rather than linking the distribution records directly to Aphia, intermediate tables were used, allowing conservation of the original names, and control over the degree of lumping of doubtful taxa in a single entity for purposes of analysis. Positions of the sampling locations. Colours correspond to different sources of data. Open circles represent the 1986 NSBS stations People involved Cochrane, S.: Akvaplan-NIVA, Polar Environmental Centre, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway [Sabine.Cochrane@akvaplan.niva.nl]; Craeymeersch, J.: RIVO, PO Box 77, Nl-4400 AB Yerseke [j.a.craeymeersch@rivo.wag-ur.nl]; de Kluijver, M.: ISP.ETI, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 49766, NL- 1090 GT Amsterdam [kluijver@science.uva.nl]; Degraer, S.: University of Gent, Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000 Gent [steven.degraer@rug.ac.be]; Desroy, N.: Station Marine de Wimereux, 28, Avenue Foch, B.P. 80, 62930 Wimereux, France [nicolas.desroy@univ-lille1.fr]; Dewarumez, J. M.: Station Marine de Wimereux, 28, Avenue Foch, B.P. 80, 62930 Wimereux, France [jean-marie.dewarumez@univ- lille1.fr]; Duineveld, G.: NIOZ, PO Box 59, Nl-1970 AB Den Burg-Texel [duin@nioz.nl]; Eggleton, J.: CEFAS, Burnham Laboratory, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex CMO 8HA, UK [j.eggleton@cefas.co.uk]; Essink, K.: Rijkswaterstaat/RIKZ, PO Box 207, 9750 AE Haren, The Netherlands; Hillewaert, H.: Sea Fisheries Department, Ankerstraat 1, B-8400 Oostende [hans.hillewaert@dvz.be]; Kröncke, I.: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Schleusenstrasse 39a, D-26382 Wilhelmshaven [ingrid.kroencke@senckenberg.de]; Lavaleye, M. S. S.: Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Postbox 59, 1790AB Den Burg [lava@nioz.nl]; Nehmer, P.: AWI, PO Box, D-27515 Bremerhaven [pnehmer@gmx.de]; Newell, R.: Marine Ecological Surveys Ltd., 24a, Monmouth Place, Bath BA1 2AY, UK [info@marineecologicalsurveys.co.uk] ; Oug, E.: Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Branch Office South, Televeien 3, N-4879 Grimstad Norway [eivind.oug@niva.no]; Rachor, E.: AWI, PO Box, D-27515 Bremerhaven [erachor@awi- bremerhaven.de]; Rees, H.: CEFAS, Burnham Laboratory, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex CMO 8HA, UK [h.l.rees@cefas.co.uk]; Reiß, H.: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Schleusenstrasse 39a, D- 26382 Wilhelmshaven [hreiss@senkenberg.de]; Robertson, M.: FRS Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, Aberdeen, UK AB11 9DB [M.R.Robertson@marlab.ac.uk]; Smith, R.: CEFAS, Burnham Laboratory, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex CMO 8HA, UK [r.smith@cefas.co.uk]; Van Hoey, G.: University of Gent, Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000 Gent [g.vanhoey@rug.ac.be]; Vanden Berghe, E.: VLIZ, Vismijn, Pakhuizen 45-52, B-8400, Oostende [wardvdb@vliz.be]. ContactCountryStationsDistribution records CochraneNorway (open sea)373784 DegraerBelgium2564057 Van DalfsenDoggerbank12566 DesroyFrance (coastal)93789 DuineveldNetherlands1004663 DewarumezFrance (Channel)15965 HillewaertBelgium8203 NehringGermany10286 NewellUK (Channel)56724357 OugNorway (coastal)121918 RachorGermany1816971 ReesUK (North Sea)534096 RobertsonUK (Scotland)384681 RumohrGermany191026 Example output from the system Brittle star Acrocnida brachiata, 1986 (red) vs 2000 (green) densities Sea urchin Echinocardium cordatum, 1986 (red) vs 2000 (green) densities Same as map to the left, but including stations where E. cordatum was not found Results of Twinspan analysis; colour reflects cluster membership (infaunal assemblages) Some statistics The combined dataset of 2000 records consists of 58362 distribution records, belonging to 1861 taxa, of which 1712 are currently considered valid. There were a total of 1401 stations, and 2509 samples. For the 1986 survey, there were 11,820 distribution records, 709 taxa, 701 valid taxa, 231 stations and 281 samples. The number of stations and distribution records in each of the 2000 data sets is listed in the table below.