The benthic macrofauna of the inner German Bight: present and past

In July and August 1995, a macrobenthos survey in the sublittoral of the inner German Bight was carried out at 16 stations around the island of Helgoland. 44 single multibox cores provided the basis for analysis of the distribution of macrobenthic organisms and their abundance and biomass. In total 84 species and 3 taxonomic groups were identified. The mean abundance (5808 Ind./m super(2)) and mean biomass (total wet weight/m super(2)) of 668.5 g indicate a strong overall increase compared to previous investigations; in addition, changes in the composition of the fauna were revealed.