Dokumentation der Ansiedlungsprozesse an k nstlichen Hartsubstraten in der Nordsee

The study of the recruitment of the zoobenthos in the German Bight is part of the ecological monitoring BeoFINO programme, which examines potential effects of future offshore-windfarms on the marine environment. The implementation of the piles of the wind-generators will change the hydrodynamic regime and the sedimentary environment and thus will affect the larval settlement and recruitment on the soft bottom. Furthermore the piles represent an artificial hard substrate, which consequences for the benthic community and the entire ecological system cannot be predicted yet. The study is mainly accomplished in the German Bight from the research platform FINO1, situated at the 30 m depth contour 45 km north of Borkum. The documentation at the platform pile is done using a newly developed underwater photo/video system remotely controlled online from the AWI in Bremerhaven.