Role of Macrofaunal Communities in the Vistula River Plume, the Baltic Sea-Bioturbation and Bioirrigation Potential.

Macrozoobenthos plays a key role in the transformation of inputs from rivers to the sea, such as nutrients, organic matter, or pollutants, and influences biogeochemical processes in the sediments through bioturbation and bioirrigation activity. The purpose of our study was to determine the structure of benthic communities, their bioturbation (BP) and bioirrigation potential (IP), and the vertical distribution of macrofauna in the Gulf of Gdańsk. The study revealed changes in the structure of benthic communities and, consequently, in the bioturbation and bioirrigation potential in the study area.