Macrozoobenthos mapped in the Königshafen (North Sea) tidal flats in August 1989

The intertidal area of "Königshafen" (4.5 km²) near the Island of Sylt was subdivided in to squares of 100x100 m each (n=450) and every second one was studied for macrozoobenthos. At each of the studied squares the sediment from an area of approx. 0.1 m² was excavated with a spade and searched for macrobenthic organisms by hand. The presence of species was noted in a field log and only species that could not be identified in the field were transferred to the laboratory. This sampling procedure was repeated 20 times per square, yielding frequencies of the species in the range of 0 to 20 occurences per square (= unit of the data).