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Landscape-Level Impacts Of Shoreline Development On Chesapeake Bay Benthos And Their Predators, Rochelle D. Seitz, Amanda S. Lawless

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Within the coastal zone, waterfront development has caused severe loss of shallow-water habitats such as salt marshes and seagrass beds. Little is known about the impact of habitat degradation and ecological value of subtidal shallow-water habitats, despite their prevalence. In coastal habitats, bivalves are dominant benthic organisms that can comprise over 50% of benthic prey biomass and are indicative of benthic production. We examined the effects of shoreline alteration in shallow habitats by contrasting the benthos of the subtidal areas adjacent to natural marsh, riprap, and bulkhead shorelines in three Chesapeake Bay subestuaries that differ in the level of shoreline …