We examined the patterns of propagule recruitment to assess timescale and trajectory succession possible roles physical factors in controlling benthic community structure a shallow High Arctic kelp bed Beaufort Sea, Alaska. Spatial differences established epilithic assemblages were evaluated against static habitat attributes (depth, distance from river inputs) environmental (temperature, salini...

the healthy condition of the taleghan river in upstream of the taleghan dam was studied in order to better understanding the role of benthic invertebrate bio-purification faced to waste water inflows to the river in several parts. sampling was started from the fall of 2005 and continued to the winter of 2006. in this way, five stations were selected using a pre-sampling strategy based on simila...

The search for consistent patterns of organisation in parasite communities remains a central theme in parasite community ecology. However, to date, much evidence comes from studies without replication in both space and time; when replicate communities are examined, repeatable patterns are rarely observed. Here we determine, using nested subset analyses, whether the infracommunities of ectoparas...

1. Non-indigenous ecosystem engineers can substantially affect native biodiversity by transforming the physical structure of habitats. In the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River system, introduced dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis) and the native benthic macroalga Cladophora act as ecosystem engineers by increasing substratum complexity and providing interstitial habitat for b...

Freshwater inflow is an important source of physical variability in estuaries. Effects of water flow are dynamic, and it is impossible to sample all conditions as they vary over space and time. Benthos, however, are fixed in place, continuously sample the overlying water conditions, and demonstrate a variety of consistent responses to multiple sources of stress. Benthic indices of biotic integr...

BACKGROUND Species distribution, abundance and diversity of mangrove benthic macroinvertebrate fauna and the relationships to environmental conditions are important parts of understanding the structure and function of mangrove ecosystems. In this study seasonal variation in the distribution of macrobenthos and related environmental parameters were explored at four mangrove stations along the Po...

Chronic anthropogenic disturbances on coral reefs in the form of overfishing and pollution can shift benthic community composition away from stony corals and toward macroalgae. The use of reefs for recreational snorkeling and diving potentially can lead to similar ecological impacts if not well-managed, but impacts of snorkeling on benthic organisms are not well understood. We quantified variat...

Bivalve aquaculture introduces high densities of farmed organisms to the natural environment with potential consequences on a number of ecosystem processes, including modification of nutrient fluxes (e.g. NH4, NOX, PO4, and Si(OH)4) and benthic respiration, and may impact benthic communities. Infaunal clam culture may influence the environment due to the clams themselves [their metabolic proces...