East Anglia Offshore Windfarm: Zonal Environmental Assessment Benthic Report
Spiophanes bombyx Sabellaria spinulosa
OPHIUROIDEA
Mediomastus fragilis Pisidia longicornis Echinocyamus pusillus Abra alba
Abludomelita obtusata Nephtys cirrosa NEMERTEA
0 5 10 15 % Abundance Spiophanes bombyx
Polinices pulchellus OPHIUROIDEA Nephtys cirrosa
Aspidelectra melolontha Ophelia borealis NEMERTEA
Urothoe brevicornis Scoloplos armiger Nephtys
0 20 406080 % Occurence
Figure 12 al so illustrates the relative contributions made by each major faunal group to the total biomass (gAFDW). The biomass of the EAOW zone was dominated by Echinodermata (37%), wi th a significant contribution made by Annelida (32%). Mollusca (12%) made the next greate st contribution followed by Crustacea (11%) and Miscellanea (8%).
Figure 14 illustrates the ten taxa which were present in the greatest proportion of samples gathered from across th e area of i nterest, hence revealing which taxa were most widely distributed across the EAOW zone.
Figure 14 demonstrates that Spiophanes bombyx was present in the greatest proportion of sampl es (>70% of the survey stations). The annelid Nephtys cirrosa and OPHIUROIDEA were al so recorded i n over 50% of al l samples acquired. A total of 72 taxa were only recorded at one station. Over 60% of all recorded taxa were present at 20 stations or fewer, sugge sting that, for the most part,
the EAOW zone is an area of limited ecological diversity.
Comparisons between Figure 13 and Figure 14 reveal that, despite being highly abundant, taxa such as Sabellaria spinulosa, Abra alba, Echinocyamus pusillus and Pisidia longicornis were not widely distributed across the area of interest.
Figure 14. The ten taxa which were recorded in the greatest proportion of samples across the area of interest.
20 25
Figure 13. The ten taxa which made th e greatest contribution to the total abundance of fauna across the area of interest.
