Variability and stability in benthos: Twenty-two years of monitoring off Northumberland

The macrobenthic fauna at a station 5.5 nautical miles off the Northumberland coast has been monitored since 1972. During the period 1972 to 1981 the fauna exhibited regular cycles of low abundance in spring followed by high abundance the following autumn. suggesting a system regulated by density-dependent processes. In 1982, this pattern broke down and the system continued to show instabilities lip to at least 1991. The considerable fluctuations in macrofauna abundance in March during this period were positively correlated with phytoplankton abundance two years previously (r(2) = 0.55). There is some indication that a stable cycle may be re-appearing in the data from 1992. (C) 1996 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea