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In order to establish a direct link between organic matter inputs to marine coastal areas and the macrobenthic community structure, essential data on the degradation state and bioavailability of sedimentary organic matter in combination with the local macrobenthic community were gathered. Various geochemical and biological approaches were used to describe the changes of organic matter quality along the general transport route of marine organic matter in the eastern North Sea. The major objectives of this research were: 1) to relate the structure and bioturbation potential of the benthic fauna to the distribution and quality of the arriving organic matter; 2) to investigate the degradation state of organic matter based on the molecular composition of its proteinaceous material; 3) to identify the potential nutritional quality based on its susceptibility to enzymatic decay and its microbial degradability along vertical sediment profiles; 4) to relate kinetics-based degradation state indicators to a composition-based degradation index.