Tropical coral reefs are among the most productive and diverse ecosystems, despite being surrounded by ocean waters where nutrients are in short supply. Benthic dinitrogen (N2) fixation is a significant internal source of "new" nitrogen (N) in reef ecosystems, but related information appears to be sparse. Here, we review the current state (and gaps) of knowledge on N2 fixation associated with c...

Long-term trends in the response of benthic macrofauna to hydrological conditions were examined in the Lavaca-Colorado Estuary, Texas. Four stations representing a range of salinities in the Lavaca-Colorado Estuary were sampled quarterly for benthic macrofauna and hydrography from April 1988 to October 2008. The relationship between climate variability and local salinity patterns and benthic po...

AMBI and Bentix are widely used benthic indices for guiding remediation decisions under two major pieces of environmental legislation in Europe—the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). These indices usually incorporate all living marine benthic invertebrates in a sample. Some recent studies, however, have applied these benthic indices to only mollu...

Benthic assemblages of variable density cover three progressively deeper ridges that parallel the Broward County, Florida, coast. An acoustic bottom classification survey using QTCView5 with a 50 kHz transducer showed different acoustic classes on the shallow reef-ridge and the two deeper reef-lines, which both showed the same acoustic signature. Ground-truthing showed that the differences in a...

This study analyzes 39 Atlantic and seven Pacific benthic δC records to characterize obliquity and precession responses in Atlantic overturning since 3 Ma. Regional benthic δC stacks are also analyzed. A major transition in orbital responses is observed at 1.5–1.6 Ma coincident with the first glacial shoaling of Northern Component Water. Since ∼1.5 Ma, the phases of Atlantic benthic δC records ...

Environmental conditions fostering marine communities around Antarctica differ fundamentally from those in the rest of the world's oceans, particularly in terms of pronounced climatic fluctuations and extreme cold. Here, we argue that the rarity of pelagic larval stages in Antarctic marine benthic invertebrate species is a consequence of evolutionary temperature adaptation and that this has gre...

Benthic invertebrate assessments can be used to gauge the impact of urban wetweather flows in receiving waters. Experiences from Cemagref in France have shown that standardized benthic indices (e.g. Oligochaete Index of Sediment Bioindication IOBS) can be used to reliably determine the ecological status of urban streams and can be incorporated into the new European Water Framework Directive. Th...

Numerous pits in coastal waters are subject to degraded water quality and benthic habitat conditions, resulting in degraded fish habitat. A pit in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey (USA) was partially filled with dredged sediment to increase flushing, alleviate hypoxia, and enhance benthic assemblages. Restoration objectives were assessed in terms of benthic community parameters and fishery resource occ...

To navigate in space most vertebrates need precise positional cues provided by a variety of sensors, including structures in the inner ear, which are exquisitely sensitive to gravity and linear acceleration. Although these structures have been described in many vertebrates, no information is available for anuran larvae. The purpose of our study was to describe, for the first time, the size, com...

Participation of planktonic and benthic bacteria in accumulation of polyphosphates in conditions of nitrates and phosphates overload was investigated in model mesocosms with natural water containing hydrobionts and curtains of Typha angustifolia. Experiments were performed in seasonal dynamics. Dynamic of number of bacterioplankton and benthic bacteria was studied in ecosystems of water and gro...