Published

Subtidal temperate reefs in marginal seas enhance biodiversity, food web complexity, and ecosystem stability - data Version 1

caterina coral (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research https://doi.org/10.25850/nioz/7b.b.tj

Marine reefs are habitats that underpin key ecosystem services, including supporting diverse faunal communities. However, the ecological functioning of reefs in subtidal temperate waters has remained underexplored. Simultaneously, interest in restoring lost reefs is increasing due to the establishment of Marine Protected Areas and the development of offshore wind farms. To explore the ecological importance of these reefs, we investigated how different subtidal temperate reef types affect faunal communities and their food web structures in the North Sea as an example of a temperate sea. We focused on the shallow nearshore Voordelta and the deeper offshore Borkum Reef Grounds in the Netherlands. Both sites hosted either geogenic (rocks) and/or biogenic (Lanice conchilega or bivalve) reefs, which we compared to a sandy non-reef reference. We sampled benthic macrofauna using box corers or grabs and mobile communities with baited traps and reconstructed food webs using stable isotope analysis and literature. Results showed that reef presence enhanced benthic taxa richness, evenness and abundance, with biogenic reefs creating intermediate communities between sand and rocks. Certain species of commercial interest (Cancer pagurus and Trisopterus luscus) were positively associated with the reefs. Reefs were found to increase food web complexity and connectivity, which are linked to network’s stability and resilience to disturbances, and influence the proportion of intermediate consumers. We conclude that temperate subtidal reefs enrich ecosystems and stabilise food webs, suggesting that their restoration and conservation could help mitigate anthropogenic impacts and enhance the overall health of marine ecosystems.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Subject Earth and Environmental Sciences
DAS Code 7b.b.tj
Source https://doi.org/10.25850/nioz/7b.b.tj
Version 1
Creator(s)
coral, caterina (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research)
ORCID
Contact the corresponding author

witbaard, rob (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research)
ORCID

coolen, joop (Wageningen Marine Research)
ORCID

van der heide, tjisse (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research)
ORCID

christianen, marjolijn (Wageningen University and Research)
ORCID
Depositor Caterina Coral (caterina.coral@nioz.nl)
Publication Date 2026-07-13T15:52:58.1536781
Deposit Date 2025-05-15
Dataset Persistent Identifier DOI:10.25850/nioz/7b.b.tj
Alternate identifier
Related identifier
Contributor Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
Distributor Research Data Management(NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research)
Distribution Date 2025-05-15
Production Date 2026-07-13
Dates
Collected
2020-09-01 until 2020-11-01
Funding References
NWO (17671)
North Sea ReViFES
Geographic Coverage
North Bound: 53.702
South Bound: 51.8068
West Bound: 3.8463
East Bound: 6.3471