Publication Date:
2018-11-08
Description:
Based on the past 150 years of research and ongoing time-series observations we give a comprehensive overview
of marine species composition around the island of Sylt in the eastern North Sea. A total of 2758 species is listed
according to the categories microplankton (591 species), zooplankton (137), nekton (118), benthic microflora (158),
benthic macroflora (125), benthic micro-and meiofauna (1204), benthic macrofauna (509), birds and mammals (91),
and neobiota (39). Plants account for a third of the species, most (85%) of them are microscopic Chromista. Among
animals, 60% of the species are micro- and meiofauna though this faunal component is still insufficiently known.
These figures are similar to records from the southern North Sea and therefore may by typical for temperate climate
sedimentary coastal areas. A comparison with the total of marine species suggests that the small benthic fauna may
be severely understudied over most of the world. Analysis of global change depends on sound baseline data and species
inventories like this can assist in the detection of biodiversity changes. They emphasise rare species and the full
range of local habitats while time-series measurements usually rely on a few selected habitats and biotic components
to generate a very general picture of the state of an ecosystem.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
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