The subtidal macrobenthos in the mesohaline part of the Schelde Estuary (Belgium): influenced by man?

The macrobenthos of the subtidal, mesohaline zone of the Schelde Estuary (Belgium) was sampled in October 1996 and 1997 at 54 and 73 sampling locations respectively. Sediments ranged fr om silty to very coarse, with the dominant sediment type being silt (33% of all locations). Of the 35 macrobenthic species observed, only seven species occurred in more than 20% of the samples. The polychaete Heteromastus filiformis and Oligochaeta were most common. Multivariate techniques revealed three distinct communities, linked mainly with sedimentological factors: (1) a species-poor (nine species) communi... Mehr ...