ICES BEWG Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG): History 1981–2015

Benthos Ecology Working GroupICESCIEM


1981 Copenhagen

Anastasios (Tasso) Eleftheriou, Chair

ICES Statutory Meeting in Copenhagen 1981

Title: North Sea Benthos Working Group

Group was installed


1982 Texel


The North Sea Benthos Working Group met in Texel, The Netherlands from 8-12 March 1982. 17 participants from 6 countries attended the meeting.

Topics covered included:

• Review state of the art

• Discussion standard methods and comparability

• Data synthesis for comparative mapping of North Sea benthos

• Plans for North Sea Benthos Survey (NSBS)

• Report by R. Jones, name battle "Benthos WG" vs."Benthos Methodics WG


1983 Hamburg


The Benthos Methodics Working Group met in Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany, from 5-8 April 1983. 15 participants from 6 countries attended the meeting.


• Comparative efficiencies of different types of trawls

• Development of standard methods

• Plans for cooperative sampling programme

• Annotated bibliographies for North Sea Benthos


1984 Hirtshals


The Benthos Methodics Working Group met in Hirtshals, Denmark in 1984.


• Comparative sampling efficiencies trawls, grabs, stills and video etc.,

• Different methods of preservation

No ICES approval for NSBS !


1985 Bremerhaven


The Benthos Methodics Working Group met in Bremerhaven, Federal Republic of Germany from 25-29 March 1985. 15 participants from 4 countries attended.


• Planning for NSBS by 9 ships and 10 nations on 207(?) stations

• Report on intercalibration exercise

• Request for Benthos-Fish Trophic Interrelationship Theme with Demersal Fish Committee


1986 Oostende

Carlo Heip, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met at the Institute for Fisheries Research in Oostende, Belgium from 12-15 May 1986. 17 participants from 7 countries attended.


• Texel, grab intercomparison

• North Sea Benthos Survey

• Request from ACMP Point source monitoring


1987 Edinburgh

Carlo Heip, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom in 1987.


• NSBS 86 first results

• Intercalibration AFDW

• Good feedback from ACMP and BOC


1988 Texel

Carlo Heip, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Texel, The Netherlands from 10-13 May 1988. 22 participants from 7 countries attended.


• NSBS 86 first results

• Effects of bottom trawling, dredging and extraction of aggregates

• Production of benthos and demersal fish

• Trophic links between benthos-demersal fish

• Recommendations for point source sampling


1989 Vigo

Carlo Heip, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Vigo, Spain.


• Point source monitoring

• NSBS 86 progress

• Benthic pelagic coupling

• Physical disturbance of sea bed

• COST 647 liaison


1990 Lisbon

Carlo Heip, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Lisbon, Portugal.


• ICES/IOC sea going workshop

• Role of mesocosms in benthic research

• Physical disturbance of sea floor

• Recruitment of longlived species

• Links between benthos and demersal fish

• Report NSBS results


1991 Halifax

Carlo Heip, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met at the Halifax Fisheries Research Laboratory, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. There were 26 participants from 9 countries.


• Evaluation of ICES/IOC sea going workshop benthos and sediment results

• Report on physical disturbance to ACMP

• Final report on NSBS

• Conceptual framework for assessing benthos changes

• Review of sorting and extraction methods and their automation


1992 BergenPaul Kingston, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Bergen, Norway in 1992.


• Role of taxonomy in ecological research

• Review of Bremerhaven ICES/IOC workshop

• Report to ACMP on possible quantification of physical disturbance

• Theoretical framework for using benthic communities to assess environmental impacts

• Review COST 647 „Modelling the Benthos“ workshop


1993 KielPaul Kingston, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in at the Institut für Meereskünde, University of Kiel, Germany from 3-8 May 1993. There were 27 participants from 11 countries.

• Disturbance effects on benthos

• Report on benthic data bases, their compatibility and availability to ongoing initiatives in Europe and North America

• Possibility of future cooperation with colleagues from Eastern European States

• Benthic implications of global climatic change


1994 YersekePaul Kingston, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Yerseke, The Netherlands from 9-13 May 1994. There were 28 participants from 12 countries.

• Initial list of indicator species for physical disturbance impact

• Quality assurance for benthic studies

• Compatibility of databases with view on North Sea Benthos Database

• Computer aided ID systems


1995 TorshavnPaul Kingston, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Aberdeen at the Marine Laboratory of the Scottish Office of the Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department, from 3-6 May 1997. There were 25 delegates from 10 countries.

• Plan for North Sea Benthos Survey in 1996

• Evaluation computer aided taxonomic systems

• Methods hard bottom substrates and intertidal communities

• Indicator species in relation to fishing disturbance

• Implementation plan for a benthic database at ICES


1996 AberdeenPaul Kingston, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met in Aberdeen at the Marine Laboratory of the Scottish Office of the Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries Department, from 1-4 May 1997. There were 25 delegates from 10 countries.

• Effect of sea bed disturbance on benthic communities

• Final plans for North Sea Benthos Survey

• Progress in computer aids for benthic taxonomy

• Small-scale spatial relationships of benthos

• Review methods for the study of benthos of hard substrata


1997 GdyniaKarel Essink, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) met in Iraklion at the Institute of Marine Biology in Crete (IMBC), Greece from 23-26 April 1997. There were 25 delegates from 10 countries.

• Progress report NSBS

• Results of IMPACT II project

• Small scale distribution of benthic invertebrates

• Review of computer aids to benthic studies

• Methods to increase efficiency and quality of identification aids in benthos studies

• Status of coding systems with view on ICES application

• Advice to ICES/OSPAR/HELCOM in quality assurance for benthos; JAMP guidelines

• No participation from Eastern European countries!


1998 HeraklionKarel Essink, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) met in Iraklion at the Institute of Marine Biology in Crete (IMBC), Greece from 23-25 April 1998. There were 21 delegates from 10 countries.

• Planning North Sea Benthos Project

• Assessment IMPACT II results

• Computer aids in benthic studies (taxonomic and operational)

• QA guidance for ICES/OSPAR through case study and inventory of national guidelines and SOPs

• Guidelines for epifaunal sampling and community description

• Ecological aspects of introduction of Marenzelleria sp. In NW European waters

• Review "state of the art" benthic sampling approaches


1999 KristinebergKarel Essink, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) met at the Kristineberg Marine Research Station in Kristineberg, Sweden in April 1999. There were 20 delegates from 11 countries.

• Merits of (new) sampling appraoches and new sampling devices

• Computer aids in benthic studies (taxonomic and operational)

• Advice on QA procedures for benthos studies through:• review of standard operating procedures• further review of case studies• inventory of national guidelines

• Guidelines for epifaunal sampling and community description of epibiota

• Impact of NAO on benthic populations

• Contributions to ICES strategic planning process


2000 WalpoleKarel Essink, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) met at the Darling Marine Centre, Walpole, Maine, USA from 25–29 April 2000. There were 16 delegates from 8 countries and the ICES HQ.

• The major contribution from BEWG to the work of SGMHM was to comment on the structure and likely applicability of the proposed EUNIS habitat classification system.

• Between the WGFTFB, BEWG, and WGECO agreement was reached on a proposal for co-organising a Theme Session on this subject at the 2001 ASC.

• Although the BEWG has been unsuccessful in attracting direct funding for a renewed North Sea Benthos Survey, a similar, though limited approach, was agreed upon.

• At the request of HELCOM BEWG gave a first evaluation of the possible secondary effects on benthos in the Baltic Sea from the dumping of fish offal and fish discards.

• Significant progress was made by the Expert-centre for Taxonomic Identification (ETI, Amsterdam) in producing CDROMs of the macrobenthos of the North Sea..


2001 WimereuxKarel Essink, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group met at the Station Marine in Wimereux, France from 17-21 April 2001. The meeting was attended by 25 participants from 9 nations.

• The progress of the North Sea Benthos Project project was reported.

• The BEWG reviewed the impact of trawling on the marine benthic system.

• TIMES guidelines for epibenthos sampling were worked on.

• Habitat mapping and description, verification of EUNIS classification were discussed.

• The group reviewed the final draft of General Guidelines on Quality Assurance for Biological Monitoring in the OSPAR Area.


2002 TromsøKarel Essink, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group meeting was held at Akvaplan-NIVA in the Polar Environmental Centre in Tromsø, Norway from 24-27 April 2002. The meeting was attended by 28 participants from 10 nations.

• A final text for epibenthos guidelines was drafted.

• First results of the NSBP were discussed.

• A comparison of ecosystem functioning innorthern seas vs. North Sea and Baltic was done.

• EcoQO´s for the North Sea were covered.

• Variability of reference sites in monitoring programmes was discussed


2003 Fort PierceHeye Rumohr, Chair

The BEWG met from 28 April-1 May 2003 at the Smithsonian Institution in Fort Pierce, Florida, USA. 19 participants from 11 countries attended the meeting.

• First phytobenthos topics in BEWG.

• EcoQO´s sensitive and opportunistic species.

• Off-shore wind energy and benthos studies.

• Progress NSBP 2000.

• Review quality control for zoo- and phytobenthos .


2004 San SebastianHeye Rumohr, Chair

The BEWG met from 19-22 April 2004 at AZTI in San Sebastian, Spain. 19 participants from 8 countries attended the meeting.

• A brief update on the history of the group was presented.

• Site selection criteria for dredged material dumping

• Benthos studies in relation to off-shore wind-energy installations

• Discussions for phytobenthos sampling recommendations in TIMES

• Final TIMES doc on epibiota sampling .


2005 CopenhagenHeye Rumohr, Chair

The BEWG met from 19-22 April 2005 at the ICES Headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. 21 participants from 9 countries attended the meeting, many of which were new and young attendees, rejuvenating the group.

• The group discussed the progress of the SGNSBP and the contents of the planned CRR which will be finished in 2006.

• In order to contribute to the REGNS process, soft bottom endobenthos, soft bottom epibenthos, and hard bottom epibenthos were considered.

• BEWG recognized the challenge of matching the aspirational need for a small suite of widely applicable benthic biological indicators with the typical local sources of evidence for deter-mining effectiveness.

• The group decided to tackle environmental implications from energy generation from wind, waves and tidal currents under one headline.


2006 HeraklionHeye Rumohr, Chair

The 25th meeting of the Benthos Ecology Working Group was held in the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) in Heraklion, Crete. The meeting was attended by 22 participants from 12 nations, two of which were new to the group (Russia and Latvia).

• The group discussed the progress of the SGNSBP and the contents of the planned CRR which will be finished in 2006.

• A subgroup formulated a text concerning benthos as eutrophication indicator where they addressed the topic regionally in estuaries, Baltic Sea and Lagoons, Fjords and the open waters

• The initial draft report on dredged spoil disposal produced by the sub-group illustrated examples from the work conducted in several countries including information from Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the U.S.A.

• Wikispecies, a project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation with great potential, was introduced.

• A comprehensive list of existing metrics (Hiscock 2004), shall be updated including newly developed metrics.


2007 WilhelmshavenHeye Rumohr, Chair

The BEWG held its 2007 meeting at the Senckenberg Institute Wilhelmshaven, Germany. 18 participants from 7 countries attended.

• The question concerning the effects of changing hydrodynamics and sea temperature on benthic communities was discussed.

• A national project in Belgium on Marine Biological Valuation revealed exciting new ways to value ecologically important sites in a non-monetary fashion.

• The final report on the Prestige oil disaster in NW Spain showed in the end no lasting effects in the benthic system.

• New improved methodical investigations were reported as method harmonization and standardization.

• The SGNSBP presented its final reports in the form of and CRR draft just submitted to ICES for publication.


2008 TorregrandeHeye Rumohr, Chair

The BEWG held its 2008 meeting at the International Marine Centre (IMC) in Torregrande, Sardinia, Italy. 17 participants from 10 countries attended .

• The working group completed "the assessment of changes in the distribution and abundance of marine species in the OSPAR maritime area in relation to changes in hydrodynamics and sea temperature".

• It was agreed that a workshop is appropriate as a starting point for the organization of the new North Sea Benthos Project.

• There were the different reports linking benthos with fisheries and a aquaculture.

• Benthic indicators have always been a strong point, linking the work of the group to several other interested parties. The London Symposium (Environmental Indicators: Utility in Meeting Regulatory Needs ) stressed the importance of incorporating multiple indicators.

• The results of the Workshop on Benthos Related Environmental Metrics (WKBEMET), a spin-off of the work done within the BEWG on benthic indicators, were discussed.

Benthos Ecology Working GroupICESCIEMBenthos Ecology Working GroupICESCIEM

2009 AsköHeye Rumohr, Chair

The BEWG held its 2009 meeting at the Askö Laboratory of the University of Stockholm, Askö, Sweden. 20 participants from 12 countries attended.

• The group reviewed some new developments and challenges in environmental metrics.

• Recent work on long-term changes in benthos was presented. The group discussed and decided that hypotheses, regarding the effects of climate change on the benthos, should be selected from the WKCBNS that are feasible to be dealt with using long-term series.

• The SGCC request on the possible con-tribution of the BEWG to the ICES position paper on Climate Change was high-lighted.

• Harmonisation of the JAMP Eutrophication monitoring guidelines with the ISO 16665 guidelines was conducted.


2010 Edgewater/OostendeSteven Degraer, Chair

Because of the eruptions of the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the BEWG organized a multi-venue 2010 meeting, with one group meeting at SERC in Edgewater, MD, USA (8 participants), a second group at ILVO-Fisheries in Oostende, Belgium (7 participants) and a third group, scattered all over Europe (7 participants). Collaboration and interaction between all three groups was maximized through daily web conferences, facilitated by ICES HQ. The group represented a total of 10 countries.

• A literature review from 2008 served as a basis for the BEWG contribution to the ICES Position Paper on Climate Change.

• The BEWG further discussed the conclusions from the Study Group on Climate related Benthic processes in the North Sea (SGCBNS).

• A review was done on the intersessionally drafted BEWG view point paper “The use of benthic indicators in Europe: from the Water Framework Directive to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive”.


2011 FloridaSteven Degraer, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) held its 2011 meeting at Fort Pierce (FL, USA). The meeting was attended by 18 members, representing 7 countries.

• The meeting was structured along three BEWG core business issues: climate change and benthos, benthos-related environmental quality assessment and marine habitat modelling and mapping. The group further discussed possibilities for future internal and external BEWG collaboration, commented on the report from the ICES Workshop on Marine Biodiversity and made suggestions for contributions to the ICES Marine Strategy Framework Directive Steering Group and the ICES Strategic Initiative on Area Based Science and Management.

• The BEWG also decided to write a review paper on SDM and its relevance for ecosystem management in a marine realm.

• The BEWG further reviewed the report of the “Workshop on Marine Biodiversity (WKMARBIO): furthering ICES engagement in biodiversity issues”


2012 SandgerðiSteven Degraer, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) held its 2012 meeting at the Marine Station of the University of Reykjavik in Sandgerði, Iceland. The meeting was attended by 26 participants, representing 12 countries.

• Future work will be firmly embedded within the Benthos Long-Term Series network (BeLTS-net), with the aim of fostering collaborative work on long-term benthos data. The BeLTS-net website content and layout was fine tuned during the meeting.

• The status of the BEWG manuscript “The myths of indicators: “The crux with indicator species” was reviewed and plans for finalisation were agreed upon.

• The manuscript on “Species distribution modelling and mapping in the marine environment and its relevance for ecosystem management” was presented and plans for its finalization were made.

• Other business comprised a review of the key stone species concept, an evaluation of the usefulness of fish stomach data to provide information on spatio-temporal patterns in the benthos and an introduction to BEWG outreach initiatives (e.g. workshops, conferences) from the recent past and future.


2013 A CoruñaSteven Degraer, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) was hosted by the Instituto Español de Oceanografía and held its 2013 meeting at the Rectorado of the Universitada da Coruña, both in A Coruña, Spain. The meeting was attended by 16 participants, representing 8 countries.

• The work done by the Study Group on Climate-related changes in the Benthos of the North Sea (SGCBNS) was reviewed and agreements were made to further the work initiated within BEWG.

• The launch of the initiative to facilitate the analysis of benthic long-term series (BeLTS-net), shared among BEWG and SGCBNS, was prepared for.

• The review comments on the draft BEWG research paper “On the myths of indicator species: issues and further consideration in the use of static concepts for ecological applications” were evaluated.

• The draft BEWG review paper on “Species distribution modelling and mapping (SDM) in the marine environment and its relevance for ecosystem management” was reviewed.


2014 DinardSteven Degraer, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) was hosted by Ifremer and held its 2014 meeting at the Station marine de Dinard - CRESCO, both in Dinard, France. The meeting was attended by 26 participants, representing 10 countries.

• Six initiatives were further developed during the workshop: • Further planning of the ongoing work already initiated

under the SGCBNS.

• Getting the Benthic Long-term Series Network (BeLTS-net) launched.

• Initiation of the investigation of benthic indicators’ comparability and complementarity.

• Final revision of the BEWG review paper: “Species distribution modelling and mapping in the marine environment and its relevance for ecosystem management”.

• Further development of the link between ecosystem functioning and benthic diversity.

• Further development of the position paper on “Linking benthic ecology to ecosystem services”.

• Four new initiatives (case studies) were developed and launched during the workshop


2015 CalviSilvana Birchenough, Chair

The Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) was hosted by STARESO and held its 2015 meeting at the Station de Recherches Sous-marines et Océanographiques at Calvi in Corsica, France. The meeting was attended by 30 participants, representing 8 countries and the ICES Secretariat.

The group continues to provide insights on the field of benthic ecology, with main emphasis on: • Long-term series and climate change considering the

methodological aspects of time-series;

• Ensuring that the Benthic Long-term series Network (BELTS-Net) engages with existing initiatives (e.g. EMODnet);

• Further developments of species distribution modelling and mapping;

• Enhanced understanding on the linkages between ecosystem biodiversity and functioning;

• Developments in effective monitoring programmes (including design, harmonization and quality assessments);

• Understanding benthic biodiversity and conservation: the role of MPA’s;

• Providing expert advice and support to the OSPAR COBAM’s request in relation to indicator work on benthic habitats.

Benthos Ecology Working GroupICESCIEM Publications


ToR a) Long-term benthic series and climate changeToR b) Species distribution modelling and mappingToR c) Benthos and legislative driversToR d) Benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioningToR e) Benthic Biodiversity and conservation: to review the role of benthic ecology in MPA’sToR f) 2015/4 Support for the development of common and candidate OSPAR biodiversity indicators for benthic habitats: Benthic habitats. Done in 2015.ToR g) Produce four short paragraphs for the ICES Ecosystem Overviews on the benthic habitat (geology, dynamics and diversity), one para-graph for each of the following ICES ecoregions: Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, Bay of Biscay & the Iberian coast and Baltic Sea. Done in 2015.ToR h) Produce four short paragraphs for the ICES Ecosystem Overviews on the benthic community, one para-graph for each of the following ICES ecoregions: Greater North Sea, Celtic Seas, Bay of Biscay & the Iberian coast and Baltic Sea- Done in 2015.ToR I) a) Recommend a scoring process (or relevant options for processes) for sensitivity of habitats, which should also include rules on:

How to scale-up sensitivity to a c-square resolution of 0.05o x 0.05o

How to treat variation in habitat type when evaluating sensitivity within c-square resolution of 0.05o x 0.05o

How to interpolate and/or extrapolate information on sensitivity when habitat data is missingBased on TOR a, provide input to WGMHM

ICES BEWG Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG): History 1981–2015

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