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Chesapeake Bay Benthic Community Restoration Goals, J. Ananda Ranasinghe, Stephen B. Weisberg, Daniel M. Dauer, Linda C. Schaffner, Robert J. Diaz, Jeffrey B. Frithsen

Reports

Benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages have been an integral part of the Chesapeake Bay monitoring program since its inception due to their ecological importance and their value as biological indicators. The condition of benthic assemblages reflects an integration of temporally variable environmental conditions and the effects of multiple types of environmental stresses. As such, benthic assemblages provide a useful complement to more temporally variable chemical and water quality monitoring measures.

While assessments using benthic monitoring data have been useful for characterizing changes in environmental conditions at individual sites over time, and for relating the condition of sites to pollution loadings and sources, …