24 
Part B - Technical instructions 
Baseline study Construction Operation phase 
phase 
Method 
(continued) 
Epifauna sampling strategy: 
• The seasons are defined as follows: Autumn: 15.08.-15.11. 
• 2 hauls per cross-transect shall be carried out (one each across the central and one 
of the outer stations). 
• Equipment standard: 2 m beam trawl (mesh size 1 cm). Duration of ground-level 
trawling should be 5 min., trawling speed should be 1-3 kn. 
• Biomass shall be determined as wet weight per species 
(according to ISO/DIS 16665, Annex C). 
• Sample processing must be documented and standardised (according to 
ISO/DIS 16665). The condition of the catching device must be documented. 
• If use of the beam trawl is not possible, a representative underwater video may be 
used in the event of heterogeneous habitat structure (according to DIN EN 16260, 
investigation type “Preliminary Study”). 
Moreover, the following information must be determined and documented: 
• In the event of beam trawl sampling: Shooting and hauling positions, towing time, 
area covered. 
• Hydrographic (T, Sal, 0 2 ) and meteorological data. 
• At each station, a sediment sample is taken for determining the grain size distribu 
tion (according to DIN EN ISO 14688-1-2003) and loss on ignition (according to 
DIN EN-12879:2001-02). 
Presenta 
tion of 
results 
Documentation of condition and modification by illustration of: 
• Total number of individuals per area/number of individuals per species and area 
(species table). 
• Total biomass per area/biomass per species and area. 
• Dominance structure (related to number of individuals and biomass). 
• Occurrence and distribution of Red List species. 
• Diversity/evenness for community analysis, cluster analysis or multi-dimensional 
scaling, univariate analyses, significance tests. 
• Comparison of own data with SSS investigation results of the transmission system 
operator. 
• Allocation of cross-transects to clusters with similar sediment characteristics or 
similar associations of macrobenthos (Pesch et al. 2008, Rachor & Nehmer 2003, 
Salzwedel et al. 1985) on the basis of community analyses (cluster analysis, MDS 
plot). 
• Documentation of sediment characteristics and hydrographic conditions in the 
project area. 
• Area demarcation of the habitats protected by § 30 BNatSchG within the area 
impacted on by the cable route corridor (compilation of a habitat type map).