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The shallow-water macrobenthos of a northern New England estuary

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Abstract

In November 1973 the benthic macrofauna of two shallow-water areas in the lower Sheepscot River estuary (New England, USA) was quantitatively sampled. Numerical classification of the data, in both the normal and inverse modes, produced 4 site-groups and 7 species-groups. Each site-group was characterized by at least one of the species-groups. The fauna of the site-groups differed in several community parameters, particularly the patterns of dominance, but it was not possible to correlate these differences with any of the several extrinsic factors measured. A factor, or factors, related to water-column stability is the probable overriding ecological determinant of the observed community patterns. Comparisons with an earlier investigation in 1955 demonstrate dramatic changes in density, dominance and species composition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, McKown Point, 04575, West Boothbay Harbor, Maine, USA

    P. F. Larsen

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  1. P. F. Larsen
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Communicated by I. Morris, West Boothbay Harbor

Contribution No. 78033 of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

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Larsen, P.F. The shallow-water macrobenthos of a northern New England estuary. Mar. Biol. 55, 69–78 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391719

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391719

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