Charles von der Meden PDP - Offshore benthic biodiversity and ecology

Charles is a benthic ecologist currently working with SAEON’s deep-sea camera (SkiMonkey III) to investigate offshore benthic biodiversity and functional ecology. His work involves several focus areas, including Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape (Project Link), and studies of long-term change in benthic assemblages at the pristine sub-polar Prince Edward Islands in the Southern Ocean (Project Link). He is also involved with other SAEON projects such as the Benthic Trawl Experiment, which is investigating the recovery of benthic habitats from demersal trawling (Video Link). The main aims of his work are to better understand the links between benthic biodiversity and biophysical factors such as habitat type and oceanographic regime. In these deeper areas, particularly the soft-sediment and unconsolidated habitats, little is known, leaving much exciting work to be done.