Description: Plastic pollution is an emerging global threat for marine wildlife. Many species of birds, reptiles and fishes are directly impaired by plastics as they can get entangled in ropes and drown or they can ingest plastic fragments which, in turn, may clog their stomachs and guts. Microplastics of less than 1 mm can be ingested by small invertebrates but their fate in the digestive organs and their effects on the animals are yet not well understood. We embedded fluorescent microplastics in artificial agarose-based food and offered the food to marine isopods, Idotea emarginata. The isopods did not distinguish between food with and food without microplastics. Upon ingestion, the microplastics were present in the stomach and in the gut but not in the tubules of the midgut gland which is the principal organ of enzyme-secretion and nutrient resorption. The feces contained the same concentration of micro-plastics as the food which indicates that no accumulation of microplastics happens during the gut passage. Long-term bioassays of six weeks showed no distinct effects of continu¬ous micro-plastic consumption on mortality, growth, and intermolt duration. I. emarginata are able to prevent intrusion of particles even smaller than 1 µm into the midgut gland which is facilitated by the complex structure of the stomach including a fine filter system. It separates the midgut gland tubules from the stomach and allows only the passage of fluids and chyme. Our results indicate that micro¬plastics, as administered in the experi¬ments, do not clog the digestive organs of isopods and do not have adverse effects on their life history parameters.

Description: Brown shrimp, Crangon crangon, inhabit highly productive sandy and muddy grounds of the southern North Sea. The stomachs of the shrimp contain variable and often high numbers of sediment grains. The function of sediment grains inside the stomach and the purpose of their ingestion are only poorly understood. We tested in laboratory experiments whether sediment and associated organic material complement the natural food of C. crangon or if sand grains may be used by the shrimp to support trituration and maceration of ingested food. The shrimp showed no notable preference for sediment with natural organic content over sediment with reduced organic content, limited ingestion of sediment upon starvation, and no additional uptake of sand grains after feeding. Instead, C. crangon took up sediment only while feeding on regular food, suggesting that sand grains are not ingested intentionally but rather incidentally as a side effect of hasty gobbling. This conclusion is supported by the highly variable uptake of sand grains among individuals. Under experimental conditions, sand grains from sediments do not seem to have a crucial function in food processing and digestion in brown shrimp.

Description: In coastal waters the identification of sources, trajectories and deposition sites of marine litter is often hampered by the complex oceanography of shallow shelf seas. We conducted a multi-annual survey on litter at the sea surface and on the seafloor in the south-eastern North Sea. Bottom trawling was identified as a major source of marine litter. Oceanographic modelling revealed that the distribution of floating litter in the North Sea is largely determined by the site of origin of floating objects whereas the trajectories are strongly influenced by wind drag. Methods adopted from species distribution modelling indicated that resuspension of benthic litter and nearbottom transport processes strongly influence the distribution of litter on the seafloor. Major sink regions for floating marine litter were identified at the west coast of Denmark and in the Skagerrak. Our results may support the development of strategies to reduce the pollution of the North Sea.

Description: Understanding the ecological implications of global climate change requires investigations of not only the direct effects of environmental change on species performance but also indirect effects that arise from altered species interactions. We performed CO2 perturbation experiments to investigate the effects of ocean acidification on the trophic interaction between the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus and the herbivorous isopod Idotea baltica. We predicted faster growth of F. vesiculosus at elevated CO2-concentrations and higher carbon content of the algal tissue. We expected that I. baltica has different consumption rates on algae that have been grown at different CO2 levels and that the isopods remove surplus carbon metabolically by enhanced respiration. Surprisingly, growth of F. vesiculosus as well as the C:N-ratio of the algal tissue were reduced at high CO2-levels. The changes in the elemental composition had no effect on the consumption rates and the respiration of the herbivores. An additional experiment showed that consumption of F. vesiculosus by the isopod Idotea emarginata was independent of ocean acidification and temperature. Our results could not reveal any effects of ocean acidification on the per capita strength of the trophic interaction between F. vesiculosus and its consumers. However, reduced growth of the algae at high CO2-concentrations might reduce the capability of the seaweed to compensate losses due to intense herbivory.

Description: Comprehensive empirical data to inform benthic species distribution models for marine hard-substrate-dominated environments, are pivotal. However, such data are difficult to obtain. These data are crucial to the definition and demarcation of protected areas and for assessment of the ecological status and function of hard-substrate habitats. In this study, underwater video-observations of hard-substrate habitats within four target areas in the sand-dominated German Bight (SE North Sea) were investigated to obtain comprehensive information on hard-substrate distribution patterns, on the amount and sizes of stones and on the presence of sessile organisms. Based on three size classes (cobbles, boulders, large boulders) three hard-substrate distribution classes were identified: (1) widely scattered stones, (2) accumulations of stones and (3) dense stone fields. The ratios between cobbles, boulders and large boulders differed significantly between the investigated areas. Boulders and large boulders were largely colonized by sessile organisms, whereas cobbles in coastal areas were least frequently colonized. Physical disturbances of epibenthos resulting from abrasion and coverage by mobile sediments are discussed as a possible explanation for the proportional differences in the colonization of stones. Hard substrates in shallower, coastal areas appeared to be strongly influenced by sand abrasion because of higher current velocities and storm-induced waves. In deeper areas, located further offshore, disturbances caused by migrating sandy ripples mobilized by storm-events seemed to be more relevant. Habitat modelling of hard substrates and resultant ecological studies require sound information on the probability of epifaunal colonization for different substrate sizes, hard-substrate distribution patterns combined with hydrodynamic and physicochemical properties of the marine environment to produce valid results. We used a structured approach for the video-based analysis of hard-substrate habitats and present estimates of the colonization probability of differently-sized stones. Our study shows that the analysis of drift videos provides basic data at a suitable resolution to contribute to the monitoring and modelling of marine ecological processes.

Description: Globally, marine subtidal hard-substrate habitats provide important ecological functions to a variety of sessile and mobile taxa. The southern North Sea is a marine environment with relatively low amounts of hard-substrate areas. Surveys with high taxonomic resolution on the associated hard-substrate epifauna, e.g. by diving observations, are challenging in this region because of strong tidal currents and considerable water depths. Therefore, the characteristics and functions of hard-substrate habitats in the North Sea remain poorly understood. The goal of this study was to extend the knowledge on sessile taxa assemblages in four hard-substrate areas within the German Bight (SE North Sea) using underwater video observations as a straight-forward and visual method to obtain and process detailed data on seafloor characteristics. Still images from drift videos were analyzed to determine the epifaunal assemblages attached to the stones on a presence/absence scale. A subsample of cobbles, boulders and large boulders was further investigated to derive quantitative data on the colonized area for each taxon and stone size. The four areas showed significant differences in sessile taxa richness, with higher numbers of sessile taxa in the deeper far-shore areas than in the shallower nearshore areas, despite a generally high similarity in the sessile animal taxa spectrum. Within the areas, cobbles were mainly dominated by short-lived taxa (〈 5 years) like Spirobranchus triqueter and ascidians, while boulder-sized stones were largely colonized by long-lived taxa (〉 5 years) like Metridium dianthus, Flustra foliacea and Alcyonium digitatum. Most of the stones were typically covered by epifauna by more than 50%. The differences in the sessile taxa spectrum between the areas were interpreted as a consequence of reduced abiotic stress and higher habitat complexity in the far-shore areas. The dominance of short-lived taxa on cobbles, in comparison to long-lived taxa on boulder-sized stones, possibly reflects the frequency of disturbance and the competitiveness of these taxa.

Description: We determined the spatial and seasonal distribution of Floating Marine Debris (FMD) by visual ship surveys across the northern Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden. FMD density was comparatively low, and we found the highest debris density close to major port cities. The seasonal variation in debris density was not pronounced although we observed more FMD items during the summer surveys. Plastic bags were the most common identifiable litter items, and we also found other consumer items (plastic bottles and cups). Styrofoam items suggest fishing or aquaculture activities as potential sea-based sources of FMD. These are the first data on FMD density in the Baltic Sea, and they are substantially lower than those reported for other coastal waters, which may be due to (i) lower human population densities, and (ii) higher environmental awareness in the Scandinavian countries.

Description: Recent data indicate accumulation areas of marine litter in Arctic waters and significant increases over time. Beaches on remote Arctic islands may be sinks for marine litter and reflect pollution levels of the surrounding waters particularly well. We provide the first quantitative data from surveys carried out by citizen scientists on six beaches of Svalbard. Litter quantities recorded by cruise tourists varied from 9-524 g m-2 and were similar to those from densely populated areas. Plastics accounted for 〉80% of the overall litter, most of which originated from fisheries. Photographs provided by citizens show deleterious effects of beach litter on Arctic wildlife, which is already under strong pressure from global climate change. Our study highlights the potential of citizen scientists to provide scientifically valuable data on the pollution of sensitive remote ecosystems. The results stress once more that current legislative frameworks are insufficient to tackle the pollution of Arctic ecosystems.

Description: After detachment from benthic habitats, the epibiont assemblages on floating seaweeds undergo substantial changes, but little is known regarding whether succession varies among different seaweed species. Given that floating algae may represent a limiting habitat in many regions, rafting organisms may be unselective and colonize any available seaweed patch at the sea surface. This process may homogenize rafting assemblages on different seaweed species, which our study examined by comparing the assemblages on benthic and floating individuals of the fucoid seaweeds Fucus vesiculosus and Sargassum muticum in the northern Wadden Sea (North Sea). Species richness was about twice as high on S. muticum as on F. vesiculosus, both on benthic and floating individuals. In both seaweed species benthic samplesweremore diverse than floating samples. However, the species composition differed significantly only between benthic thalli, but not between floating thalli of the two seaweed species. Separate analyses of sessile and mobile epibionts showed that the homogenization of rafting assemblages was mainly caused by mobile species. Among these, grazing isopods from the genus Idotea reached extraordinarily high densities on the floating samples from the northernWadden Sea, suggesting that the availability of seaweed rafts was indeed limiting. Enhanced break-up of algal rafts associated with intense feeding by abundant herbivores might force rafters to recolonize benthic habitats. These colonization processes may enhance successful dispersal of rafting organisms and thereby contribute to population connectivity between sink populations in theWadden Sea and source populations from up-current regions.

Description: Respiration of ectotherms is predicted to increase faster with rising environmental temperature than photosynthesis of primary producers because of the differential temperature dependent kinetics of the key enzymes involved. Accordingly, if biological processes at higher levels of complexity are constrained by underlying metabolic functions, food consumption by heterotrophs should increase more rapidly with rising temperature than photo-autoptrophic primary production. We compared rates of photosynthesis and growth of the benthic seaweed Fucus vesiculosus with respiration and consumption of the isopod Idotea baltica to achieve a mechanistic understanding why warming strengthens marine plant–herbivore interactions. In laboratory experiments thallus pieces of the seaweed and individuals of the grazer were exposed to constant temperatures at a range from 10 to 20 °C. Photosynthesis of F. vesiculosus did not vary with temperature indicating efficient thermal acclimation whereas growth of the algae clearly increased with temperature. Respiration and food consumption of I. baltica also increased with temperature. Grazer consumption scaled about 2.5 times faster with temperature than seaweed production. The resulting mismatch between algal production and herbivore consumption may result in a net loss of algal tissue at elevated temperatures. Our study provides an explanation for faster decomposition of seaweeds at elevated temperatures despite the positive effects of high temperatures on algal growth.