IMIS - Marine Research Groups

One of the case studies of the soft-bottom monitoring of macrobenthos pilot study is the Flora Fauna Habitat Directive (FFHD) case study. The FFHD case study takes place in the Wadden Sea (North Sea). SGN in collaboration with the German stakeholder LKN.SH has completed a field expedition (May 2020) in the FFD monitoring location were 36 stations were sampled in various soft-bottom habitats. In each station 3 van Veen grab samples were taken together with plankton samples. Following the sampling the samples were morphological identified while later were genetically processed (metabarcoded). Additionally the alcohol for each sample was used for studying the e-DNA (traces of animals in the alcohol). This will allow the comparison of traditional monitoring methods (morphology) with novel genetic methods (metabarcoding and eDNA),