Analyses of temporal variation in the structure of a shallow‐water benthic community in nova scotia

Abstract

AbstractThe dominance structure of a shallow water (17 m), soft‐bottom community at St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia was studied using multivariate statistical methods over the period January 1970 to January 1971. Seventy‐four species were encountered in the samples, and the majority were crustaceans and polychaetes. Ordination was the best method, compared to classification and measures of species diversity, for determining the changes in dominance from the mass of complex data. An ostracod (Normanicythere leioderma), two polychaetes (Micronephytis minuta and Prionospio steenstrupi), and an amphipod (Photis reinhardi) were identified as the species that determined change in the assemblages resulting from the multivariate analyses. The changes in these species' population structure were related to seasonal fluctuations in temperature.