Mora and colleagues show that ongoing greenhouse gas emissions are likely to have a considerable effect on several biogeochemical properties of the world's oceans, with potentially serious consequences for biodiversity and human welfare.

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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 fluorescence sensitive time-lapse sediment profile imaging camera (f-SPI), fluorescent-dyed sediment particles (luminophores) and mathematical modelling. This combined approach allowed tracer particles to be non-invasively tracked and their displacements monitored at an unprecedented spatial (78 µm) and temporal (every 10 min) resolution for extended periods of time (16 h). The redistribution of luminophores was digitally acquired from sequential images and compared to model predictions, with particle transport modelled as (1) a diffusive process, allowing the biodiffusion coefficient, D b , to be estimated, and (2) a non-local process, allowing a reworking activity constant, a, to be calculated. Model predictions of luminophore particle transport for the final image of the f-SPI sequence gave: D b = 1.26 × 10 2 cm 2 yr -1; a = 5.23 × 10 -2 cm -1 yr -1. Discrete values of a fluctuated widely throughout the sequence and allowed discrete bioturbation events to be identified. Time-lapse movie sequences revealed that most of the bioturbation observed during the deployment could be directly attributed to the behaviour of the brachyuran crab Hyas araneus. Our findings demonstrate that f-SPI provides a rapid and non-invasive means to visualise and quantify, in situ, the extent and influence of discrete infaunal bioturbation events on particle mixing. This technique provides detailed information on the spatial and temporal resolution of such bioturbation events, which could significantly improve existing models of bioturbation.

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. Dominant benthic invertebrates from the Baltic Sea and the Skagerrak were classified into functional groups in accordance with their behaviour, feeding and sediment reworking activities. Macrofauna species were added in different combinations to defaunated Baltic sediments in 2 parallel microcosm systems fuelled with brackish and marine water. In total, there were 12 treatments that differed in terms of functional diversity of benthic fauna. The experiments demonstrated that faunal activities directly affected benthic oxygen and nutrient fluxes, sediment reactivity and pore-water distribution under both Baltic and Skagerrak conditions. Benthic fluxes, sediment reactivity and pore-water distribution were similar in Baltic and Skagerrak treatments, in which the same functional biodiversity and species-specific traits of benthic macrofauna were observed. Although no significant effects of functional biodiversity could be detected under Baltic or Skagerrak conditions, treatments with bioturbating fauna from the Skagerrak enhanced oxygen consumption and nutrient fluxes compared to treatments with Baltic fauna and Skagerrak fauna with functional groups similar (parallel) to the Baltic fauna. Moreover, speciesspecific traits related to the Skagerrak fauna (e.g. the thalassinid shrimp Calocaris macandreae) exceeded the effects of all other faunal treatments. This suggests that species-specific traits of macrofauna may override species richness and functional biodiversity of macrofauna when regulating important ecosystem properties and functions in benthic environments.

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-oxygenated and the succession of the benthic fauna was studied at 5 stations over a 2 yr period. Simultaneously, the benthic habitat quality (BHQ) was assessed by analysing sediment redox conditions and faunal burrow structures in sediment profile images. Succession of the benthic fauna is described as increases in number of species, abundance and biomass. Conspicuous colonisers below 100 m depth were the polychaete Capitella capitata and the heart urchins Echinocardium cordatum and E. flavescens. Return to preoxygen stressed conditions was slowest at the deepest stations. By using a multivariate technique (multi-dimensional scaling) we show that the benthic communities at all depths more or less returned to the same faunal composition as during pre-disturbed conditions. The pioneering and mature ben-