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Benthic Communities In Spartina Alterniflora And Phragmites Australis Dominated Salt Marshes, Catherine E. Yuhas

Theses

The benthic communities were investigated in Phragmites australis and Spartina altemiflora salt marshes, conducted in natural and mitigated salt marshes located in a highly urbanized area, the Hackensack Meadowlands, New Jersey. Benthic samples were taken with a 5-centimeter core at two habitats, the creek bank and the edge of the vegetation in the low marsh zone. Salinity levels and textural and structural sediment characteristics were also collected at each site. A recolonization experiment that utilized sediment from an undisturbed and uncontaminated salt marsh was conducted to determine if substrate is important in benthic colonization. The results suggest that there were …