Studies of the role of benthic animals of the Western Baltic in the flow of energy and organic material

Some of the benthos studies carried out by working groups of the Institut für Meereskunde and the Joint Research Programme „lnteraction Sea - Sea Bottom" of Kiel University are briefly reviewed. As an introduction, main structural features of the large-scale pattern of macrozoobenthos of the Western Baltic are discussed in connection with the governing environmental factors (sediment type, temperature, salinity, discontinuity layer, seasonal O2-deficiency and H2S). Sedimentation of primary production and its fluctuations considerably affect benthic activity. In addition, locally reduced competition leads to high production rates, established from observations on population dynamics of single species. Trophic relations of important macroinvertebrates throw light on the position of the macrobenthos within the whole system. Experimental studies in situ and in the laboratory contribute to the analysis of processes involved in the functioning of the ecosystem and its subunits