Ecosystem Assessment Using Estuarine and Marine Benthic Community Structure*

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to the use of benthic community structure as a means of assessing ecosystem response to contaminated sediments in estuarine and marine ecosystems. The conceptual underpinning of community structure theory has always been central to the framework of ecological theory. In the marine environment Petersen was one of the first to identify community types. The application of community structure parameters to the assessment of pollution and toxicity effects mandates that the ecological framework surrounding the definition of community be considered. Implicit in the definition of community is the individual identity of the species that compose the community. Diversity is the most commonly used community structure measure, either as 'number of species' (S) or as a composite index (such as H'). Similarity and dissimilarity indices are similar to diversity indices in that most formulations use the same components of community structure.