Microplume

Recent modelling has shown that the gross primary production of the North Sea may have decreased by as much as 8% due to the construction of offshore windmill farms. The increased presence of filter feedingorganisms would be to blame for this drop in productivity.It is known from previous research (Delphine Coates; Matthias Baeye) that the Belgian offshore windfarms influence the suspended matter. Fine particles that are trapped by the epibenthosare washed out by strong currents (neap tide), creating sediment plumes and the deposition of fine sediments in the wake of pylons. To date, noone has investigated whether these sediment plumes are also characterized by different microbial communities. With this pilotproject, we want to measure whether filterfeeding by epibenthic communities has a significant influence on the phytoplanktonand whether or not the bacterial composition is affected

Cruises

Plan code Principal Investigator Duration Shared campaigns