Field Validation of Multi-Species Laboratory Test Systems for Estuarine Benthic Communities

摘要

The major objective of the project was to determine the validity of using multispecies laboratory systems to evaluate the response of estuarine benthic communities to an introduced stress. In a 5-year period, experiments in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, and the York River, Virginia, sought to develop criteria for microcosm tests to evaluate the capacity of microcosms to model natural communities in the presence and absence of pollution-induced stress, and assess the validity of extrapolating test results of one location to another. Individual species response patterns in the microcosms were highly variable and seldom showed good agreement with patterns in the field. Species richness in the microcosms and field sites showed good temporal agreement and provided a conservative indicator of community response to a toxic stress.