Structural Dynamics and Robustness of Southern North Sea Bentho-Demersal Food Webs

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Developing a new and general approach towards a quantitative determination of the impact of environmental disturbances on the southern North Sea ecosystem is essential for better understanding of ecosystem goods and services. The proposed project aims to reveal the effects of variability in external disturbances (e.g. sea temperature rise) on major functions and services coupled to the trophic network of the bentho-demersal compartment. The food web, as the sum of all trophic relationships, constitutes the major matrix of interactions essential for the functioning of the system. This study will evaluate the robustness of the benthos-demersal food webs of the southern North Sea, using as case studies the dominant species associations present in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Food web structures will be analyzed by means of stable isotope signatures and classical diet identification. The central task is a comprehensive trophic analysis that combines multiple food chains of the benthos and demersal fish. The emphasis is to extract the core trophic interactions that contribute most to the trophic network stability. The expected results will identify how the significance of species and functional traits for maintaining food web integrity correlate with sensitivity to environmental change.