Benthic Community and Sediment Types: A Structural Analysis |
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Authors: | Eugenio Fresi Maria Cristina Gambi Silvano Focardi Roberto Bargagli Franco Baldi Lucia Falciai |
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Affiliation: | Stazione Zoologica, Laboratories di Ecologia del Benthos, Punta S. Pietro, 1–80077 Ischia Porto (Italy);Istituto di Anatomia Comparata, University of Siena, Via delle Cerchia 3, Siena (Italy) |
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Abstract: | Abstract. The distribution of the macrobenthic community, in relation to various physical and chemical characteristics of the sediment, was studied along the coast of Southern Tuscany (Central Tyrrhenian) in an area under the influence of the Ombrone River outflow. The zonation of the benthos was found to be primarily under the control of a gradient of water movement, as is reflected by variations in the sediment structure from the coast to the open sea. This correlation is somehow influenced by secondary gradients such as the degree of mixing of the sediment and the deposition of terrigenous materials along the river plume. |
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Keywords: | benthic community sediment type structural analysis |
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