Winter survival of mussel beds in the intertidal part of the Dutch Wadden Sea
Steenbergen, J.; Baars, J.M.D.D.; van Stralen, M.R.; Craeymeersch, J.A. (2006). Winter survival of mussel beds in the intertidal part of the Dutch Wadden Sea, in: Laursen, K. (Ed.) Monitoring and Assessment in the Wadden Sea. Proceedings from the 11th Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium Esbjerg, Denmark 4-8 April 2005. NERI Technical Report, 573: pp. 107-111
In: Laursen, K. (Ed.) (2006). Monitoring and Assessment in the Wadden Sea. Proceedings from the 11th Scientific Wadden Sea Symposium Esbjerg, Denmark 4-8 April 2005. NERI Technical Report, 573. NERI: Copenhagen, Denmark. ISBN 87-7772-921-8. 142 pp., more
In: NERI Technical Report. Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser, Miljø- og Energiministeriet: Aarhus. ISSN 0905-815X; e-ISSN 1600-0048, more
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Document type: Conference paper
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| Keywords |
Environments > Aquatic environment > Marine environment > Intertidal environment
Overwintering
Survival
Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]
ANE, Wadden Sea, Friese Wad [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Steenbergen, J., more
- Baars, J.M.D.D.
- van Stralen, M.R., more
- Craeymeersch, J.A., more
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| Abstract |
Every winter, mussel beds in the tidal area of the Dutch Wadden Sea disappear due to storm and predation. The Dutch government only allows fishing of juvenile mussels on newly formed mussel beds if these have a low chance of surviving the following winter. However, at presence the mussel bed area that disappears during winter is unknown. Here, we present the distribution of mussel beds in the Dutch Wadden Sea from 1994 to 2003. We determined the spatial contour of present mussel beds in autumn and spring using GPS. For the first time, we can quantify winter losses and average winter survival. We show that almost 40% of all mussel bed area disappears every winter. Of all newly formed beds, 50% did not survive their first winter. The best areas for development of mature mussel beds are positioned south of Ameland and Schiermonnikoog and at Wierumer Wad along the Frisian coast. Furthermore, we compare average winter survival with a habitat suitability map. |
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