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Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Marine Biology

William & Mary

VIMS Articles

2017

Chesapeake Bay

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Role Of Habitat And Predators In Maintaining Functional Diversity Of Estuarine Bivalves, Cassandra N. Glaspie, Rochell D. Seitz Apr 2017

Role Of Habitat And Predators In Maintaining Functional Diversity Of Estuarine Bivalves, Cassandra N. Glaspie, Rochell D. Seitz

VIMS Articles

Habitat loss is occurring rapidly in coastal systems worldwide. In Chesapeake Bay, USA, most historical oyster reefs have been decimated, and seagrass loss is expected to worsen due to climate warming and nutrient pollution. This loss of habitat may result in declining diversity, but whether diversity loss will equate to loss in ecosystem function is unknown. A bivalve survey was conducted in a variety of habitat types (seagrass, oyster shell, shell hash, coarse sand, detrital mud) in 3 lower Chesapeake Bay sub-estuaries from spring 2012 through summer 2013 to examine the correlation between bivalve densities, habitat type, habitat volume (of …