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Identification and description of macrobenthic communities in the Calvert Cliffs region of the Chesapeake Bay

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Chesapeake Science

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 June 1978

Abstract

The macrobenthos (>1.0 mm) in the Calvert Cliffs region of the Chesapeake Bay was sampled over a three year period (1971–1974). Four distinct communities (shell, 3 m sand, 6 m muddy-sand, 9 m mud) were identified and described using single-linkage cluster and discriminant analyses. Substrate characteristics were the major environmental factor controlling the spatial distribution of macrobenthic communities within the study area, and within a habitat communities were relatively homogeneous throughout the region. The structure of the 6 m muddy-sand community variously resembled the 3 m sand or the 9-m mud community depending upon season and year.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Hallowing Point Field Station, Route 1, 20678, Prince Frederick, Maryland

    Nancy K. Mountford & J. A. Mihursky

  2. Environmental Technology Center, Martin Marietta Corporation, 1450 South Rolling Road, 21227, Baltimore, Maryland

    A. F. Holland

Authors
  1. Nancy K. Mountford
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  2. A. F. Holland
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  3. J. A. Mihursky
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Additional information

Contribution No. 733, Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies, University of Maryland.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1351610.

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Mountford, N.K., Holland, A.F. & Mihursky, J.A. Identification and description of macrobenthic communities in the Calvert Cliffs region of the Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake Science 18, 360–369 (1977). https://doi.org/10.2307/1350591

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