Karl Norling

Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management

A test deployment of a time-lapse camera lander in the deep Oslofjord (431 m) was used to obtain initial information on the response of benthic fauna to macroalgal debris. Three macroalgal species were used on the lander baited plate: Fucus serratus, Saccharina latissima and Laminaria hyperborea and observed during 41.5 hours. The deep-water shrimp...

We review approaches and tools currently used in Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) for integrated assessment of ‘ecological status’ sensu the EU Water Framework Directive as well as assessment of ‘eutrophication status’ in coastal and marine waters. Integration principles for combining indicators within Biological Quality Eleme...

To quantify how fish farming modifies short-term benthic carbon cycling in fjord environments and the role of hydrodynamics in modifying effects on the benthos, we assessed benthic ecosystem structure and respiration and used isotope labeled algae as a tracer to quantify C flow over 48 h through macrofauna and bacteria in sediments collected from b...

The species-environment relationship is a fundamental structural property of natural ecosystems. Marine sedimentary macrofauna is known to be structured by a range of environmental variables, however, the mechanisms by which environmental variables co-vary to form complex-gradients (i.e., groups of intercorrelated environmental variables), and how...

Ongoing greenhouse gas emissions can modify climate processes and induce shifts in ocean temperature, pH, oxygen concentration, and productivity, which in turn could alter biological and social systems. Here, we provide a synoptic global assessment of the simultaneous changes in future ocean biogeochemical variables over marine biota and their broa...

Ongoing greenhouse gas emissions can modify climate processes and induce shifts in ocean temperature, pH, oxygen concentration, and productivity, which in turn could alter biological and social systems. Here, we provide a synoptic global assessment of the simultaneous changes in future ocean biogeochemical variables over marine biota and their broa...

Effects of burial by water-based drill cuttings and natural test sediment on living (stained) benthic foraminifera were investigated in a mesocosm experiment. After 193 days, the foraminiferal response in sediment covered with drill cuttings was compared to the response in sediment covered with defaunated natural test sediment Increasing thickness...

This report describes the development of a new Norwegian species-sensitivity based index (NSI) for assessment of ecological quality status, and its comparison with the AMBI index. AMBI is an extensively used index in Europe, including Norway. Species sensitivity assignments of 516 taxa common to NSI and AMBI were compared. Significant discrepancies...

Summary in English: Can information on soft bottom communities and models of geophysical conditions provide distribution maps of reference condition in Norwegian coastal waters? Species composition and biodiversity in marine sediment communities (benthic macrofauna) are particularly suitable for measuring environmental health conditions, as partic...

The present study investigates the relation between community characteristics, input of organic matter and drill cuttings. Drill cuttings are discharged from offshore oil and gas exploration, and settle on soft bottom sediments where the benthic fauna may be affected. In a 3- factorial mesocosm experiment, 2 benthic communities were treated with ei...

The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) was introduced from the northern Pacific to the Russian Murman coast during the 1960s and 1970s. Over the subsequent decades, the crab has become established in northern Norwegian waters, where it continues spreading westward. The crab is an active predator on benthic fauna, especially feeding in deep...

A field experiment was conducted to investigate how water-based drill cuttings and sediment type influence colonization of soft bottom communities. Bottom frames with trays containing defaunated sediments were placed at the seabed for 6 months to study colonization of macrofauna. Two different sediments (coarse and fine) were used, and 6 or 24 mm l...

In recent times many benthic indices have been proposed to assess the ecological quality of marine waters worldwide. In this study we compared single metrics and multi-metric methods to assess coastal and transitional benthic status along human pressure gradients in five distinct environments across Europe: Varna bay and lake (Bulgaria), Lesina lag...

We report the development of a methodology for assessing confidence in ecological status classifications. The method presented here can be considered a secondary assessment, supporting the primary assessment of eutrophication or ecological status. The confidence assessment is based on scoring the quality of the indicators on which the primary asses...

Soft sediments cover most of the ocean seabed and often contain benthic communities with high biological diversity. Sediment-dwelling organisms depend on the substrate that they are attached to or live in, and species composition varies with sediment type. Macrofauna composition and diversity in soft sediments are commonly used as „„health indicato...

Effekter av kongekrabben på økosystemet på bløtbunn: undersøkelser i Varanger 2006-2009 Varangerfjorden utenfor Grense Jakobselv sett innover mot Bugøynes

There have been very few studies of temporal processes at chemosynthetic ecosystems, even at relatively more accessible shallow water sites. Here we report the development and deployment of a simple cabled video observatory at 30 m water depth in Gullmarsfjorden, Sweden. The camera provides a live video feed to the internet of faunal activity in th...

Mussel farming is considered a viable means for reducing coastal eutrophication. This study assessed the importance of bioturbation by recolonizing fauna for benthic solute fluxes and porewater distributions in manipulated mussel farm sediments. Three consecutive time-series flux incubations were performed during an experimental period of three wee...

Sedan år 2002 har regeringen öronmärkt pengar till forskning om biologisk mångfald. Pengarna har delats ut via Forskningsrådet Formas och Vetenskapsrådet till forskare på olika institutioner i landet. Naturvårdsverket har under samma tid fi nansierat fl era forskningsprogram med biologisk mångfald i fokus. I och med regeringssatsningen 2002 startad...

Djuren som lever på havets djupa mjuka bottnar utför fl era viktiga uppgifter för ekosystemet. Organiskt material från havets biologiska produktion, samt material från fl oder, industrier och reningsverk hamnar på havets bottnar. När bottendjuren äter och rör om i sedimentet ökar nedbrytningen. En havsbotten med grävande djur kan jämföras med en vä...

Fauna have been found to regulate important biogeochemical properties and ecosystem functions in benthic environments. In this study, we focused on how functional biodiversity and species-specific traits of benthic macrofauna affect key ecosystem functions related to organic matter mineralization and cycling of nutrients in surface sediments. Domin...

We used computer-aided tomography (CT) for 3D visualization and 2D analysis of marine sediment cores from 3 stations (at 10, 75 and 118 m depths) with different environmental impact. Biogenic structures such as tubes and burrows were quantified and compared among stations. Subsequent to CT scanning, the animals and other material in the cores were...

Benthic invertebrates play a key role in the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the marine water-sediment interface. The influences of invertebrates on biogeochemical processes have mainly been attributed to their sediment reworking and bioirrigation activities. The aim of this study was to compare the influences of bioturbation activ...

Benthic invertebrates play a key role in the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the marine water-sediment interface. The influences of invertebrates on biogeochemical processes have mainly been attributed to their sediment reworking and bioirrigation activities. The aim of this study was to compare the influences of bioturbation activ...

In order to link actual biological data on bioturbation to the abstract parameters in bioturbation models, high-resolution data on the frequency and lengths of particle displacements are required. The temporal variation in bioturbation for a subtidal macrofaunal assemblage was studied non-invasively and in situ using an optically modified fluoresce...

The Gullmarsfjord on the Swedish west coast has a sill at 40 m and a maximum depth of 118 m. The stagnant bottom water is usually renewed with oxygen-rich water each spring. In 1997 this did not occur, and the fauna was eliminated at depths below about 100 m and severely reduced between 80 and 100 m depth. In spring 1998, the whole fjord was re-oxy...

We investigated individual reproductive flexibility and the division of labour in five post-emergence colonies of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia revolutionalis, by relating behavioural observations of individuals at the nest to their ovarian development. Analysing time-activity budgets with principal components and canonical discriminant a...