Intertidal macrozoobenthos evolution of the "Baie des Veys' between 1985 and 2000

Intertidal macrozoobenthos evolution of the 'Baie des Veys' between 1985 and 2000. The distribution of intertidal macrozoobenthos in the 'Baie des Veys' (French coast of the eastern English Channel) has been studied in 2000. Results were compared with those of 1985, which are included in a long-term monitoring program established since 1973. The populations remained distributed along an estuarine-marine gradient, with a particularity on the eastern side, which is isolated from the rest of the bay by a river channel. The western and central tidal flats became more subjected by marine influence, which led to a homogenisation of the benthic communities. Oyster farming locally caused a fast decrease of the typical eastern community, which was characterized by Scoloplos armiger and Urothoe poseidonis.