A wind of change for soft-sediment infauna within operational offshore windfarms
Lefaible, N.; Braeckman, U.; Degraer, S.; Vanaverbeke, J.; Moens, T. (2023). A wind of change for soft-sediment infauna within operational offshore windfarms. Mar. Environ. Res. 188: 106009. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106009
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.
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