Benthic Studies in Chesapeake Bay: (1) Analysis and Synthesis of Faunal Data in Relation to Sediment and Water Column Interactions, and (2) Scope for Future Needs
Benthic fauna have a considerable regulatory influence on rates of carbon degradation, and the direction and extent of nutrient fluxes (particularly nitrogen) through their bioturbation and respiration activities. Parameters that are used to assess bay health, e.g. sediment oxygen and nutrient fluxes, are strongly regulated by the sediment infauna. These interactions are likely to impact phytoplankton productivity and assessment of efforts to meet nutrient reduction goals.
This synthesis effort examines the relationships among benthic community composition and biogeochemical function, and identifies "keystone" species having disproportionate effects on benthic biogeochemistry and benthic-water column interactions. This is accomplished by:
- Examining the quality of faunal data sources, and to sort and arrange the data in terms of ecological relationships and likely biogeochemical interactions.
- Examining the quality of related biogeochemical data and evaluate the extent of overlap (e.g. spatial and temporal scales) with the benthic faunal data.
- Identifying species associations, including potential "keystone" species, which are related to ecological or environmental characteristics.
- Identifying linkages between ecosystem/biogeochemical components and benthic community structure and function where statistical and scaling analyses are supportive.
- Identifying y whether additional data collection, modification of existing procedures, or experimentation is warranted.
- Disseminating the findings through internet and published sources, to participate teacher training workshops, and to organize of a workshop among stakeholders in the Bay program
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Roberta Marinelli
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
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