Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected from streams located in an urban area from regions featuring different environmental conditions. Physicochemical variables and land use types pertaining to sampling sites were analyzed concurrently. Multivariate analyses (cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling) and rank-abundance diagrams were used to characterize community patterns to...

the gamasiab river has one of the highest discharge in the western iran receiving wastewater of trout frames. the present study investigated effects of wastewater using bioassessment of benthic organisms. the benthos were sampled over four seasons using a surber sampler on four stations, upstream, on the farm outlet, 500 and 1000 m down the farm outlet. 5454 benthic fauna were identified that w...

Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) impinging on continental margins present sharp gradients ideal for testing environmental factors thought to influence C cycling and other benthic processes, and for identifying the roles that biota play in these processes. Here we introduce the objectives and initial results of a multinational research program designed to address the influences of water depth, the OM...

Metacommunity ecology recognizes the interplay between local and regional patterns in contributing to spatial variation in community structure. In aquatic systems, the relative importance of such patterns depends mainly on the potential connectivity of the specific system. Thus, connectivity is expected to increase in relation to the degree of water movement, and to depend on the specific trait...

Numerous studies have documented declines in the abundance of reef-building corals over the last several decades and in some but not all cases, phase shifts to dominance by macroalgae have occurred. These assessments, however, often ignore the remainder of the benthos and thus provide limited information on the present-day structure and function of coral reef communities. Here, using an unprece...

Increased water clarity associated with zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) populations may favor benthic algal primary production in freshwater systems previously dominated by pelagic phytoplankton production. While zebra mussel-mediated water clarity effects on benthic primary production have been implicated in published reports, few production estimates are available. This study estimates be...

In Neotropical streams, benthic sediment affects community structure and may impose energetic costs for some species yet to be a resource for others. This study tested the hypothesis that removal of benthic sediment through ingestion by Rana palmipes (Ranidae), a detritivorous tadpole, facilitated the growth of Ancistrus triradiatus (Loricariidae), an algivorous armored catfish. We hypothesized...

The increase of anthropogenic pressures on the marine environment together with the necessity of a sustainable management of marine living resources have underlined the need to map and model coastal environments, particularly for the purposes of spatial planning and for the implementation of integrated ecosystem-based management approach. The present study compares outputs of a process-driven b...

Measures of alpha diversity are more frequently used to detect environmental changes and subsequent impacts on biodiversity, while measures based on variability (beta diversity) are said to be more appropriate for detecting those impacts. Theory predicts that beta diversity should increase with disturbance frequency in patchy communities. Our objective in this study was to experimentally determ...

Dreissenid mussels have invaded the Laurentian Great Lakes causing dramatic changes to benthic-pelagic interactions. Despite research on food web impacts, there is limited data on mussel effects on benthic bacterial communities. This study examined effects of dreissenid mussels and benthic algae on sediment bacterial community composition and diversity. Triplicate experimental sediment plus lak...