Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.

Sec. Marine Ecosystem Ecology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1552274

Offshore Wind Farms and Associated Wave-induced Processes Influence Macrobenthic Diversity and Biomass in Coastal Ecosystems

Provisionally accepted
Su-Young  JeongSu-Young Jeong1,2Sung-Yong  OhSung-Yong Oh3Sungtae  KimSungtae Kim2Chae-Lin  LeeChae-Lin Lee2,4Dong-Sik  AhnDong-Sik Ahn2Chang-Soo  KimChang-Soo Kim2Damin  LeeDamin Lee2Jae-Won  YooJae-Won Yoo2*
  • 1Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea
  • 2Korea Institute of Coastal Ecology Incorporated, Bucheon, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea
  • 3Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), Busan, Republic of Korea
  • 4Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Appropriate decision making for ecosystem conservation is contingent on understanding the ecosystem. To evaluate the effect of offshore wind farms (OWFs) and predict future changes in benthic ecosystems, data on influencing factors must be collected. We aimed to assess the effect of OWF in a study area located off the central west coast of Korea. Based on the diversity and biomass anomaly criteria established for the west coast of Korea, we classified 28 survey rounds from 2014 to 2022 as anomalous or normal based on the number of anomalous samples. Regression analyses were performed to determine the sources of diversity/biomass variation. In any given period, the biomass anomalous samples/rounds were more dominant than those related to diversity. Significant factors identified during regression analyses included sediment, depth, suspended particulate matter, and weather-related variables, such as monthly averages of wind speed and significant wave heights, mainly measured at land-based weather stations. Biomass exhibited stronger correlations with weather variables than diversity. Binary logistic regression predicted anomaly occurrence at wind speeds ≥2.84 or ≥1.60 m/s for diversity and at ≥2.70 or ≥1.86 m/s for biomass, depending on the mild or harsh conditions of significant wave heights or maximum wind speed. Thus, our study showed that wave-induced processes and other natural factors influence macrobenthic diversity and biomass, and these predictions were potentially improved by measurements from land-based weather stations. The expected reduction in wave energy owing to wake effects from the OWF is expected to increase the productivity of benthic ecosystems.

Keywords: Macrobenthos, ocean wind farm, biomass, wind and wave dynamic, diversity

Received: 27 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Jeong, Oh, Kim, Lee, Ahn, Kim, Lee and Yoo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Jae-Won Yoo, Korea Institute of Coastal Ecology Incorporated, Bucheon, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.