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The erosion potential over bedforms in a tidal flat of the East Frisian Wadden Sea was studied by conducting erosion and physical and biological sediment property measurements on the crests and troughs of bedforms. Five stations along a cross-shore transect of 1.5 km length from immediately below the salt marsh to the mid tide-level of the tidal flat were visited during two field campaigns in June and September 2002. Measurements of sediment erodibility were made on both crests and troughs using an EROMES erosion device and quantified in terms of critical erosion shear stress and erosion rate. Surface sediment scrape samples (upper 1 mm layer) were taken from crests and troughs to determine various physical and biological properties of the sediment. The results show that crests are generally more stable (i.e. higher critical erosion shear stresses and lower erosion rates) than troughs. In general, crests contained more chlorophyll a, colloidal carbohydrate, and EPS (extracellular polymeric substance) than troughs. Median grain-size, water content and wet bulk density of the crests showed no statistically significant difference from those of the troughs with the exception at the most landward station immediately below the salt marsh margin, where crests had significantly lower water content and higher wet bulk density than troughs.Two different processes were identified for the difference in erodibility between crests and troughs: (1) At stations with emersion times less than 6 h, the higher benthic diatom biomass (measured as chlorophyll a concentration) on the crests increases the amount of EPS, which is likely to stabilize the sediment surface of these features; (2) in a saltmarsh transition area (most landward station), physical processes such as surface drying and compaction seem to enhance in a synergistic way the sediment stability on the crests.

In case of an oil spill, dispersant application represents a response option, which enhances the natural dispersion of oil and thus reduces coating of seabirds and coastal areas. However, as oil is transferred to the water phase, a trade-off of potential harmful effects shifted to other compartments must be performed. This paper summarizes the results of a workshop on the current knowledge on risks and benefits of the use of dispersants with respect to specific conditions encountered at the German sea areas. The German North Sea coast is a sensitive ecosystem characterised by tidal flats, barrier islands and salt marshes. Many prerequisites for a potential integration of dispersants as spill response option are available in Germany, including sensitivity maps and tools for drift modelling of dispersed and undispersed oil. However, open scientific questions remain concerning the persistence of dispersed oil trapped in the sediments and potential health effects.

Abstract. Environmental Sensitivity Indices (ESI) composed of many field-data are essential for monitoring and control systems. At the beginning of the last decade an ESI of the German Wadden Sea was developed for use by the relevant authorities. This ESI was derived by experts semi-manually analysing the extensive field data-set.An algorithm is presented here which emulates human expert-decisions on the classification of sensitivity classes. This will permit the necessary regular updates of ESI-determination when new field data become available using automated classifications procedures. After tuning the algorithm parameters it generates decisions identical to those of human experts in about 97% of all locations tested. In addition, the algorithm presented also enables erroneous or extremely seldom field data to be identified.

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