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Benthic habitats of the New York/New Jersey Harbor : 1995 survey of Jamaica, Upper, Newark, Bowery, and Flushing Bays : final report - October 2000
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2000
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[PDF-19.28 MB]
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Description:Sediment profile imagery (SPI) and grab sampling were used to examine benthic communities in selected bays ofNew York/New Jersey Harbor in June and October 1995. This effort was stimulated by the need for benthic habitat maps to develop environmentally sound and economically feasible disposal alternatives for dredged material management. The habitat classification system developed for New York/New Jersey Harbor was based on sediment type and observed faunal assemblages, and twentyone habitat classes were identified and mapped in a geographic information system (GIS) for each survey. Upper and Jamaica Bays contained the widest range of habitat types, including areas ofshellfish beds, amphipod mats, and sandy-bottom and silty-bottom communities. Shellfish beds were relatively stable across both surveys, as were sandybottom communities. Benthic habitats in Newark, Bowery, and Flushing Bays consisted predominantly ofsilty-bottom communities; the presence ofsubsurface methane pockets indicated organic contamination in areas ofBowery and Flushing Bays and some ofthe peripheral basins ofJamaica Bay. Notable temporal shifts, seen in all the bays from June to October, included increases in infaunal polychaete density, general deepening ofthe apparent Redox Potential Discontinuity (RPD), and changes in species dominance within communities. Inferences to habitat quality were drawn from these trends and abundance data. Communities in each bay were dominated by opportunistic or pollution-tolerant species, and few noticeable differences in overall habitat quality were observed.
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Rights Information:CC0 Public Domain
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