Biogenic reefs of Europe and temporal variability

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European-scale distribution of biogenic reefs

Figure 1: Map taken from the OSPAR Status Report 2010 [1] depicting the distribution of the threatened and/or declining coastal and shelf habitats in Europe.
Figure 2: Sabellaria alveolata
Picture by: IMARES.
Figure 3: Current OBIS distribution data for S. alveolata in Europe (data from OBIS, July 2012) showing distributions and unconfirmed records: red>101; orange=51-100; yellow=11-50; green=6-10; blue=1-5. Please note that older records and those from southern Europe are probably missing.
Figure 4: Current OBIS distribution data for S. spinulosa in Europe (data from OBIS, July 2012): red>101; orange=51-100; yellow=11-50; green=6-10; blue=1-5. Please note that older records and those from southern Europe are probably missing.
Figure 5: Current OBIS distribution data for Modiolus modiolus in Europe (data from OBIS, July 2012): red>101; orange=51-100; yellow=11-50; green=6-10; blue=1-5. Please note that older records and those from southern Europe are probably missing.

Biogenic reefs can be described as hard compact structures created by the activity of living organisms. They do not share an uniform structure and are found at variable spatial scales. Dense colonies of several species are widely considered to form reefs in Europe. Only four of these species are described in this report due to their contribution to sediment trapping and bed stability. These are: Sabellaria alveolata, Sabellaria spinulosa, Modiolus modiolus and Mytilus edulis. Many biogenic reef habitats are currently threatened and/or in decline in Europe as a result of various natural and anthropogenic pressures (OSPAR 2010[1]). Figure 1 illustrates the distribution of some biogenic reef habitats that are currently in decline around the coast of Europe.

Sabellaria alveolata

Sabellaria alveolata (or honeycomb worm) is a sedentary tube-dwelling polychaete (or annelid worm). It uses suspended sediment to construct its tubes (Figure 2) [2]. This polychaete is most commonly found in colonies. There are two major forms of colonies: veneers and sand reefs (for more information, see the article Ecology and management of European biogenic reefs). Records of Sabellaria alveolata are more numerous at northern latitudes in Europe (Figure 3). This is an obvious artifact of data reporting, as S. alveolata is widely distributed in France, Spain and Portugal and extends as far south as Morocco [3][4]. It reaches its northern limit in Britain but is restricted to the warmer waters off the west coast, as growth is inhibited below 5°C [5]. The current confirmed northern limit is the Dumfriesshire coast of SW Scotland, with records from the Firth of Clyde and Outer Hebrides requiring confirmation. This species builds the largest reefs on the European coast, in particular the “Les Hermelles” reef in the Saint-Michael Bay in France, which is over 100 ha and is considered the largest reef in Europe[3][6].

Sabellaria spinulosa

Sabellaria spinulosa (or Ross worm) is a tube-dwelling polychaete closely related to Sabellaria alveolata. It is a relatively disturbance-tolerant pioneer species[7]. In contrast to Sabellaria alveolata, it mostly occurs in solitary or small aggregations. However, it can be gregarious under favorable conditions, forming large reef structures (up to 30 cm high)[8]. The tubes are upright and typically consist of several layers of sediment particles (for more information, see the article Ecology and management of European biogenic reefs). Sabellaria spinulosa reefs are known from all European coasts, except the Baltic and the waters of the Kattegat and Skagerrak, but are typically limited to areas with very high levels of suspended sediment[1], see Figure 4. In the UK, aggregations of S. spinulosa are reported to occur at a number of locations around the British Isles[9][10]. Perhaps the best known example of an S. spinulosa reef in the UK is found in the mouth of the Wash (east coast of England), where reefs are elevated above the seafloor and have been found to extend over hundreds of square meters within the Norfolk Coast SAC[11]. Relatively few records have been found in Scotland (Figure 4). Not all of these aggregations can be described as “reefs”; for instance, the species may form only superficial crusts on mixed substrata. On the German coast, intertidal and subtidal reefs have been reported from the Wadden Sea[12] and from the southern North Sea where Linke (1951)[13] reported reefs up to 60 cm thick, 8 m wide and 60 m long. S. spinulosa has also been reported from the French coast, but without precise locations[9].

Intertidal Mytilus edulis

Mytilus edulis (or common mussel) has a circumpolar distribution in boreal and temperate waters of both hemispheres. In the north-east Atlantic, its range extends from the Arctic to the Mediterranean[14]. The majority of intertidal beds are found in the Wadden Sea (Netherlands, Germany and Denmark) where a 2007 inventory reported an estimated coverage of 1865 hectares in the Dutch sector[15]. It is also present in British and Irish coastal waters[16] and there is a large bed (covering approximately 200 ha) in southern Brittany in France[17].

Modiolus modiolus

Modiolus modiolus (or horse mussel) is an Arctic-boreal species that is limited in distribution by warmer temperatures to the south, but occasionally specimens have been reported as far south as Northwest Africa. It occurs from the Bay of Biscay to northern Norway, with occurrences off Iceland and the Faeroes[18][19]. It is found throughout British waters, but has most frequently been reported in northern and western areas (Figure 5). Extensive horse mussel beds are found only in parts of northern and western Scotland, the Ards Peninsula, Strangford Lough, the Isle of Man, north-west Anglesey and north of the Lleyn Peninsula. M. modiolus is usually described as occurring in aggregated clumps on mud or muddy-gravel sediments, although the vast majority of these do not meet the definition of a biogenic reef because of their low density and coverage. However, several areas contain large beds that can be defined as biogenic reefs, including beds in Strangford Lough[9], Scottish waters[20][21] and within the Lleyn Peninsula[22]. One notable area of horse mussel beds that has received considerable research is the Bay of Fundy on the Scotian Shelf, Canada[23].

Examples of temporal variability

Sabellaria alveolata

Cunningham et al. (1984)[4] reviewed the distribution and local abundance of S. alveolata in Britain. This review used past records from the literature, data from new shore surveys and reports obtained through correspondence with other marine scientists. As a result of this exercise, changes in the extent of S. alveolata distribution over a period of approximately 100 years were documented. In order to evaluate the long-term temporal variability in S. alveolata distribution and abundance, the data were divided into three arbitrary periods: pre-1963 (before the cold winter of 1962/1963), 1964-1979 and 1980-1984[4].
Frost et al. (2005)[24] carried out a series of broadscale and focused mapping studies of S. alveolata in NW England and North Wales in 2003/04. This comprised a resurvey of sites that had been previously surveyed in the 1980s [4]. S. alveolata was found to be present at most of the sites where it had previously been recorded[4] and at many of these sites its abundance also appears to have increased (Table 1). S. alveolata had reappeared in areas where it had been absent for many years (Table 1: Hilbre Island and Colwyn Bay) and had spread to areas for which there are no known previous records (Table 1: North Wirral, Rossal Point).
Hawkins (1993) suggested that S. alveolata was declining along the Cumbrian coast, but the present study found it to be abundant or super‐abundant at most sites. The records from the present study therefore seem to confirm the observation made by others that S. alveolata shows a great deal of temporal variability within a fairly constant geographic range[4]. Even on a shore where S. alveolata is continually present, there is a great deal of variability in terms of abundance and ‘within shore’ distribution. For example, long-term studies at Duckpool in North Cornwall [2][25][26] and in Normandy, France[27] have revealed a great deal of variability over the years in the distribution and abundance of S. alveolata colonies within sites.


Table 1: Past data on Sabellaria alveolata maximum abundance in Northwest England and Wales, with recent resurveys included. N = absent, R = rare, O = occasional, F = frequent, C = common, A = abundant and SA = super-abundant (massive reefs). P = recorded as present but abundance not known. From Cunningham et al. (1984)[4] and Frost et al. 2005)[24].
Location S. alveolata abundance
Pre-1963 1964-1979 1980-1984 2003-2004
Penmon N N
Great Orme’s Head N N
Little Orme’s Head N N
Rhos-on-Sea N N
Colwyn Bay P N R
Hilbre Island A R N A
Wirral Foreshore A
Lytham Pier N N
St Annes Pier N N
Fleetwood,Rossall Pt N F
Heysham* F-O N N
Holme Island N N
Humphrey Head N N
Wadhead, Scar N N
Walney Island N N
Annaside Bank A SA
Tarn Bay A-SA SA
Drigg A SA
Seascale O SA
Sellafield O A-SA
Nethertown A A
St. Bees O C-A



Figure 6: Changing occurrences of S. spinulosa reefs in the Wadden Sea (Wadden Sea Secretariat, 2005). Figure adapted from OSPAR 2010 [1].

Sabellaria spinulosa

Subtidal S. spinulosa reefs have reportedly been lost in at least five areas of the northeast Atlantic[16]. During the 1920s large reefs of S. spinulosa were common in the German Wadden Sea[28] but most have since been lost. Similar losses have been recorded from the Lister Ley (Island of Sylt) and the Norderau area[29][30]. Only three living reefs were found during surveys in the early 1990s, compared with 24 during the 19th century (Figure 6). In the late 1990s, samples taken from the subtidal reefs in the German Wadden Sea consisted largely of compact lumps of empty tubes. In 2000, one of these reefs had diminished drastically in extent with the remainder in poor condition, although dredge samples contained many tiny tubes occupied by living worms. A third reef, which had previously extended over ~18 hectares, could not be located during repeat surveys in 2002. In the UK, there are reports of reefs being lost in Morecambe Bay[31], the Wash and the Thames[32]. In the western North Sea, a report comparing records from 1986 and 2000 suggests an increase in distribution and density[33].

Mytilus edulis

Surveys covering the entire littoral of Niedersachsen in Germany revealed a decrease in the extent of M. edulis (5000 hectares in the late 1950s, 2700 ha in 1989/91, 1300 ha in 1994 to 170 ha in 1996). Mussel beds in the Ameland region have also disappeared after intensive fishing in the region[34]. In the Netherlands, Higler et al. (1998[35]) observed a serious decline in the populations of mussels between 1988 and 1990, mainly caused by fisheries. The extent of mussel beds decreased from the 1970s to the 1990s. In Denmark, intensive fisheries during 1984 to 1987 almost led to a complete disappearance of the mussel population[36].

Modiolus modiolus

Only a few beds are known to have been surveyed over sufficiently long periods for evidence of change to become apparent. In the Irish Sea, south of the Isle of Man, an extensive bed was almost completely lost due to scallop dredging[37]. For similar reasons, beds in Strangford Lough (Northern Ireland) also showed severe declines[38]. Recently, beds in North Anglesey (Wales) have been destroyed by fishing activity. By contrast, in an Icelandic bay Modiolus modiolus was still the dominant by‐catch species in scallop dredges 30 years after scallop dredging began[39]. In Sullom Voe (Shetland), a bed coincident with a pipeline showed signs of recovery, with some re‐colonisation of disturbed sediment after a few years[40]. A substantial population was present on the legs of a North Sea oil platform 10 years after installation; in this situation, the young mussels would probably have experienced relatively little predation[41]. M. modiolus appears to have declined in the North Sea. By comparing occurrences in ICES rectangles, Callaway et al. (2007)[42] showed that the species had been found in 11 rectangles during 1982-85, whereas comparable international surveys in 2000 found it in only one rectangle.

Theseus.jpg

Related articles

Ecology and management of European biogenic reefs

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 OSPAR 2010. Quality Status Report 2010. OSPAR Commission. London. 176 pp.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wilson, D.P. 1971. Sabellaria colonies At Duckpool, North Cornwall, 1961‐1970. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 51: 509-580. Available from: www.vliz.be/imis
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gruet, Y. 1982. Recherches sur l’écologie des récifs d’Hermelles édicés par l’Annélide Polychète Sabellaria alveolata (Linné), Université des Sciences et Techniques, Nantes, France. PhD
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Cunningham, P.N., Hawkins, S.J., Jones, H.D. and Burrows, M.T. 1984. The geographical distribution of Sabellaria alveolata (L.) in England, Wales and Scotland, with investigations into the community structure of, and the effects of trampling on Sabellaria alveolata colonies. Report to the Nature Conservancy Council from the Department of Zoology, Manchester University, Manchester. NCC report No. HF3/11/22
  5. ↑ Crisp, D.J. 1964. The effects of the severe winter of 1962-63 on marine life in Britain. Journal of Animal Ecology 33: 165-210
  6. ↑ Marchand, Y. and Cazoulat, R. 2003. Biological reef survey using spot satellite data classification by cellular automata method ‐Bay of Mont Saint‐Michel (France). Computers & Geosciences 29: 413‐421
  7. ↑ Jackson, A. and Hiscock, K. 2008. Sabellaria spinulosa Ross worm. In Tyler-Walters H. and Hiscock K. (eds) Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews, [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
  8. ↑ Hendrick, V.J. and Foster-Smith, R.L. 2006. Sabellaria spinulosa reef: a scoring system for evaluating 'reefiness' in the context of the Habitats Directive. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 86: 665-677
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Holt, T.J., Rees, E.I., Hawkins, S.J. and Seed, R. 1998. Biogenic Reefs (volume IX). An overview of dynamic and sensitivity characteristics for conservation management of marine SACs. Scottish Association for Marine Science (UK Marine SACs Project). 170 pp.
  10. ↑ Davies, A.J., Last, K.S., Attard, K. and Hendrick, V.J. 2009. Maintaining turbidity and current flow in laboratory aquarium studies, a case study using Sabellaria spinulosa. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 370: 35-40
  11. ↑ Foster-Smith, R.L. and Hendrick, V.J. 2003. Sabellaria spinulosa reef in The Wash and North Norfolk cSAC and its approaches: Part III, Summary of knowledge, recommended monitoring strategies and outstanding research requirements. English Nature Research Reports Number 543
  12. ↑ Berghahn, R. and Vorberg, R. 1993. Effects of the shrimp fisheries in the Wadden Sea. In: Influence of fisheries upon Marine Ecosystems. Einfluss Der Fischerei Auf Marine Oekosysteme Lukowicz, M., 103-126
  13. ↑ Linke, O. 1951. Neue Beobachtungen uber Sandkorallen‐Riffe in der Nordsee, Natur u. Volk 81: 77‐84
  14. ↑ Soot-Ryen, T. 1955. A report on the family Mytilidae. Allan Hancock Pacific Expedition 20: 1-154
  15. ↑ Goudswaard, P.C., Jansen, J.M.J., van Zweeden, C., Kesteloo, J.J. and van Straalen, M.R. 2007. Het mosselbestand en het areaal aan mosselbanken op de droogvallende platen in de Waddenzee in het voorjaar van 2007. Wageningen IMARES, December 2007
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Jones, L.A., Hiscock, K. and Connor, D.W. 2000. Marine habitat reviews. A summary of ecological requirements and sensitivity characteristics for the conservation and management of marine SACs. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough. (UK Marine SACs Project report)
  17. ↑ Rollet, C., Bonnot-Courtois, C. and Fournier, J. 2005. Cartographie des habitats benthiques médiolittoraux à partir des orthophotographies littorales. Fiche technique-Projet REBENT FT13-2005-01, Ifremer, Brest. 18pp
  18. ↑ Tebble, N. 1966. British bivalve seashells. Natural History Museum, London. pp 212
  19. ↑ Poppe, G. and Goto, Y. 1993. European seashells. Volume:2 (Scaphopoda, Bivalvia, Cephalopoda). Conchbooks, Haekenheim. 221 pp.
  20. ↑ Comely, C.A. 1978. Modiolus modiolus (L.) from the Scottish west coast. Ophelia 17: 167‐193
  21. ↑ Howson, C., Connor, D. and Holt, R. 1994. The Scottish sealochs - an account of surveys undertaken for the Marine Nature Conservation Review. Joint Nature Conservation Committee Report, No. 164
  22. ↑ Lindenbaum, C., Bennell, J., Rees, E., McClean, D., Cook, W., Wheeler, A. and Sanderson, W. 2008. Small-scale variation within a Modiolus modiolus (Mollusca: Bivalvia) reef in the Irish Sea: I. Seabed mapping and reef morphology. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 88: 133-141
  23. ↑ Wildish, D.J., Fader, G. and Parrott, D. 2009. A model of horse mussel reef formation in the Bay of Fundy based on population growth and geological processes. Atlantic Geology 45: 157-170
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Frost, M.T., Leaper, R., Mieszkowska, N., Moschella, P., Murua, J., Smyth, C. and Hawkins, S.J. 2005. Recovery of a Biodiversity Action Plan Species in Northwest England: possible role of climate change, artificial habitat and water quality amelioration. A report submitted to English Nature, spring 2004
  25. ↑ Wilson, D.P. 1974. Sabellaria Colonies at Duckpool, North Cornwall, 1971–1972, With a Note for May 1973. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 54: 393-436
  26. ↑ Wilson, D.P. 1976. Sabellaria alveolata (L.) At Duckpool, North Cornwall, 1975. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 56: 305-310
  27. ↑ Gruet, Y. 1986. Spatio‐temporal changes of Sabellarian reefs built by the sedentary polychaete Sabellaria alveolata (Linn6) P.S.Z.N.I. Mar. Ecol 7(4): 303‐319
  28. ↑ Hagmeier, A. and Kandler, R. 1927. Neue Untersuchungen im nordfriesischen Wattenmeer und auf den fiskalischen Austernbanken.-Wiss. Meeresunters. (Abt. Helgoland) 16: 1-90
  29. ↑ Riesen, W. and Reise, K. 1982. Macrobenthos of the subtidal Wadden Sea: Revisited after 55 years, Helgolander Meeresuntersuchungen 35: 409‐423
  30. ↑ Reise, K. and Schubert, A. 1987. Macrobenthic turnover in the subtidal Wadden Sea: The Norderaue revisited after 60 years. Helgolander Meeresuntersuchungen 41: 69-82
  31. ↑ Taylor, P.M. and Parker, J.G. 1993. An Environmental Appraisal: The Coast of North Wales and North West England, Hamilton Oil Company Ltd, 80 pp
  32. ↑ Warren, P.J. and Sheldon, R.W. 1967. Feeding and migration patterns of the Pink Shrimp Pandalus montagui, in the estuary of the River Crouch, England. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 24: 569-580
  33. ↑ Rees, H.L., Eggleton, J.D., Rachor, E. and Vanden Berghe, E. (eds) 2007. Structure and dynamics of the North Sea benthos. ICES Cooperative Research Report, 288. ICES: Copenhagen. ISBN 87-7482-058-3. III, 258pp.
  34. ↑ Dankers, N. 1993. Integrated estuarine management-obtaining a sustainable yield of bivalve resources while maintaining environmental quality. In: Dame, R.R. (ed) Bivalve filter feeders in estuarine and ecosystem processes. Springer, Berlin, 479-511
  35. ↑ Higler, B., Dankers, N., Smaal, A. and de Jonge, V.N. 1998. Evaluatie van de ecologische effecten van het reguleren van schlpdievisserij in Waddenzee en Delta op bodemorganismen en vogels. In: van Dijk, J.J. and Heiling, R. (eds) Structuurnota Zee- en Kustvisserij, van de maatregelen in de kustvisserij gedurende de eerste fase (1993–1997). Appendix 5: pp. 17
  36. ↑ Kristensen, P.S. 1995. Aerial surveys, biomass estimates, and elimination of the mussel population (Mytilus edulis L.), in the Danish Wadden Sea, 1991±1994. ICES C.M. 1995/K:44, 22 pp.
  37. ↑ Veale, L.O., Hill, A.S., Hawkins, S.J. and Brand, A.R. 2000. Effects of long-term physical disturbances by commercial scallop fishing on subtidal epifaunal assemblages and habitats. Marine Biology 137: 325-337
  38. ↑ Service, M. and Magorrian, B.H. 1997. The extent and temporal variation of disturbance of epibenthic communities in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 77: 1151-1164
  39. ↑ Garcia, E.G. and Ragnarsson, S.A. 2007. Impact of scallop dredging on macrobenthic communities in Breidafjordur, West Iceland. In: Garcia, E.G., Ragnarsson, S.A., Steingrimsson, S.A., Naevestad, D., Haraldson, H.P., Fossa, J.H., Tendal, O.S. and Eriksson, H. (eds) Bottom Trawling and Scallop Dredging in the Arctic: Impacts of fishing on non‐target species, vulnerable habitats and cultural heritage. Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen, Chapter 2.2
  40. ↑ Mair, J.M., Moore, C.G., Kingston, P.F. and Harries, D.B. 2000. A review of the status, ecology and conservation of horse mussel Modiolus modiolus beds in Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage, Edinburgh (Commissioned Report F99PA08)
  41. ↑ Anwar, N.A., Richardson, C.A. and Seed, R. 1990. Age determination, growth rate and population structure of the horse mussel Modiolus modiolus. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 70: 441‐457
  42. ↑ Callaway, R., Engelhard, G.H., Dann, J., Cotter, J. and Rumhor, H. 2007. A century of North Sea epibenthos and trawling comparisons between 1902‐1912, 1982-1895 and 2000. Marine Ecology Progress Series 346: 27-43

The main authors of this article are Firth, Louise, Davies, Andrew, Hawkins, Stephan, [http://www.coastalwiki.org/imis/imis.php?module=person&persid=12778 Airoldi, Laura] and Colangelo, Marina Antonia
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