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<p>This study investigates the long-term trends and potential drivers of changes in the epibenthic community at the “Dogger Bank” to clarify the effects of rising sea temperatures and trawling activities on epibenthic species composition and biodiversity. Over three decades (1991–2021), the epibenthic megafauna (&gt; 1&#xa0;cm) has been regularly sampled in summer with a 2-m beam trawl at five stations at the Dogger Bank tail end, and the epibenthic species abundances were quantitatively recorded. Furthermore, sea temperature and trawling effort datasets for the corresponding area were used to check for correlations with the species composition and abundances. The study relies on long-term data analysis and the application of multivariate statistical methods to discern temporal trends and the relative contributions of environmental and anthropogenic factors to community changes. This study hypothesizes that the benthic species community at the MPA on the Dogger Bank has undergone significant shifts over three decades due to rising sea temperatures and pressure from bottom contact fisheries. While local summer temperatures of the bottom water layer increased by up to 4&#xa0;°C throughout the research period, trawling efforts rather decreased continuously in the area. Despite low interannual differences in species composition between the stations, we found the faunal regime to be under constant change (MDS, CCA), with a decrease in biodiversity (Shannon–Wiener indices) along with a general faunal regime shift around the turn of the millennium. We did not detect a linear correlation between biodiversity and temperature/trawling effort; however, we did find certain species positively or negatively correlating with these factors when using Spearman’s rank analysis. Our results provide a solid benchmark for future research in the German and neighboring Exclusive Economic Zone.</p>

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Climate change and fisheries affect benthic composition and diversity in the North Sea — investigations at the Dogger Bank during three decades (1991–2021)

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月2日

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  • Sarah Joy Hahn,
  • Angelika Brandt,
  • Moritz Sonnewald

摘要

This study investigates the long-term trends and potential drivers of changes in the epibenthic community at the “Dogger Bank” to clarify the effects of rising sea temperatures and trawling activities on epibenthic species composition and biodiversity. Over three decades (1991–2021), the epibenthic megafauna (> 1 cm) has been regularly sampled in summer with a 2-m beam trawl at five stations at the Dogger Bank tail end, and the epibenthic species abundances were quantitatively recorded. Furthermore, sea temperature and trawling effort datasets for the corresponding area were used to check for correlations with the species composition and abundances. The study relies on long-term data analysis and the application of multivariate statistical methods to discern temporal trends and the relative contributions of environmental and anthropogenic factors to community changes. This study hypothesizes that the benthic species community at the MPA on the Dogger Bank has undergone significant shifts over three decades due to rising sea temperatures and pressure from bottom contact fisheries. While local summer temperatures of the bottom water layer increased by up to 4 °C throughout the research period, trawling efforts rather decreased continuously in the area. Despite low interannual differences in species composition between the stations, we found the faunal regime to be under constant change (MDS, CCA), with a decrease in biodiversity (Shannon–Wiener indices) along with a general faunal regime shift around the turn of the millennium. We did not detect a linear correlation between biodiversity and temperature/trawling effort; however, we did find certain species positively or negatively correlating with these factors when using Spearman’s rank analysis. Our results provide a solid benchmark for future research in the German and neighboring Exclusive Economic Zone.