Welkom op het expertplatform!
Dit platform verschaft informatie en kennis omtrent de WL expertisedomeinen 'hydraulica en sediment', 'havens en waterwegen', 'waterbouwkundige constructies', 'waterbeheer' en 'kustbescherming' - gaande van WL medewerkers met hun expertise, het curriculum van deze instelling, tot publicaties, projecten, data (op termijn) en evenementen waarin het WL betrokken is.
Het WL onderschrijft het belang van "open access" voor de ontsluiting van haar onderzoeksresultaten. Lees er meer over in ons openaccessbeleid.
A wind of change for soft-sediment infauna within operational offshore windfarms
In: Marine Environmental Research. Applied Science Publishers: Barking. ISSN 0141-1136; e-ISSN 1879-0291
|  |
| Trefwoord |
|
| Author keywords |
Renewable energy development; Artificial reef effects; Macrofaunal communities; Ecological changes |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Lefaible, N.
- Braeckman, U.
- Degraer, S.
|
- Vanaverbeke, J.
- Moens, T.
|
|
| Abstract |
In this study, “artificial reef” (AR) impacts of offshore windfarms (OWFs) on the surrounding soft-sediments were investigated. Benthic grab samples were collected at nearby (37.5 m) and distant (500 or 350 m) positions from turbines of two Belgian OWFs (Belwind: monopiles and C-Power: jackets). Higher macrobenthos abundance and species richness were found nearby jacket foundations of C-Power compared to distant positions and differences were most pronounced within deeper sediments (i.e., gullies between sandbanks) at intermediate levels of fine sand fractions (10–20%) and total organic matter (0.5–0.9%). Strong benthic enrichment (>1000 ind. m−2, >20 spp. sample−1) was also linked with higher fine sand fractions (>20%) near the jackets. Moreover, nearby sediments showed higher occurrences of coastal species and habitat diversification was promoted by Mytilus edulis shell debris and alive organisms (“biofouling drop-offs”). The lack of similar results around monopiles (Belwind) confirms that the extent of detectable AR-effects depends on site- and turbine specific factors. |
IMIS is ontwikkeld en wordt gehost door het VLIZ.
