Sediments play an important role in the functioning of coastal marine environments, These processes are considerably affected by the presence and activity of macrobenthic organisms. Descriptor 6, seafloor integrity of the marine strategy framework directive (MSFD) states that good environmental status (GES) is reached only if "structure and functions of the ecosystems are safeguarded and benthic ecosystems, in particual, are not adversely affected". Preliminary resultst from a ongoing (scientific) evanluation of the MSFD implementation process however indicate that while ecosystem functioning is explicitly mentioned, by far most of the attention was thus far paid to structural aspects of seafloor integrity. A lack of scientific knowledge on ecosystem functioning (relative to knowledge on structural aspects) and a lack of operational indicators for ecosystem functioning are considered to be at the basis of this neglect.

Human activities in the marine environment result in multiple pressures. Two of the most obvious pressures on the southern North Sea sediments are "hardening" and "fining". "Hardening" mainly results from the installation of offshore wind farms, where foundations provide a hard substrate for a diverse underwater fauna. Fining of sediments, on the other hand, can be trawling, dumping, as well as the introduction of artificial hard substrates. Both pressures are expected to have important implications for biogeochemical cycling (e.g. N-cycling) and food web structure (e.g. secondary production)