Report of the Study Group on Climate related Benthic processes in the North Sea (SGCBNS)

The Study Group on Climate related Benthic processes in the North Sea (SGCBNS) was initiated by the ICES Benthos Ecology Working Group (BEWG) as a follow up initiative of the former North Sea Benthos Surveys (NSBS 1986; NSBP 2000). The aim was to discuss and facilitate future research activities concerning benthic ecosystem processes related to climate change and to establish a network of benthic long-term series. This year the chairs of SG organised a workshop in February at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK. The aim of this workshop was to initiate work on the pro-posed case study 1 (Assessing fine-scale bioturbation). Subsequently, the SG also conducted their annual meeting as a WebEx conference on 24–27 October 2011 to fa-cilitate the participation of members unable to travel.