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The benthic ecology of the Bristol Channel
Warwick, R.M. (1984). The benthic ecology of the Bristol Channel. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 15(2): 70-76
In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. Macmillan: London. ISSN 0025-326X; e-ISSN 1879-3363
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Author 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Non-open access 330075 [ request ]

Keywords
    Aquatic communities > Benthos
    Composition > Community composition
    Currents
    Distribution > Ecological distribution
    Ecology
    Pollution > Water pollution > Marine pollution
    Velocity > Current velocity
    ANE, British Isles, Bristol Channel [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal

Author  Top 
  • Warwick, R.M.

Abstract
    Samples of the bottom fauna have been taken on a grid of 155 stations in the Bristol Channel. The abundance and diversity of species are often used as indicators of "pollution", "disturbance" or "stress" but these traditional indices cannot be used in assessing anthropogenic influences in the Bristol Channel because of the large differences, from region to region, which are caused by differences in tidal stress, particularly in the up-channel regions of strong scour and fluid muds. In summary, it can be said that on the scale of the grid pattern sampled, and using presently available techniques of detecting pollution, all the observed properties of community structure and function are explicable in terms of natural forcing functions, of which current speed is the most important.

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