Benthic Ecology

USGS scientists are working with partners at the Puget Sound Partnership and the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology to develop two new tools to help us understand how human disturbance affects life at the top of Puget Sound: a Marine Benthic Index and a graphical causal model.

USGS scientists are collaborating with multiple agencies to provide the esssential foundation for understanding these deep-sea environments.

Connectivity among coral communities influences the probability of speciation and contributes to their ability to adapt to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Results from this study will enhance our understanding of Gulf of Mexcio ecosystems with regional conservation initiatives to inform the restoration of degraded deepwater coral communities and preserve long-term viability of coastal...

Turbid water conditions make the delineation and characterization of benthic habitats difficult by traditional in situ and remote sensing methods. Consequently, only a small fraction of this valuable resource has been mapped or characterized.

Deep-sea canyons are complex environments encompassing a range of benthic habitats, including soft sediments along the axis of the canyon, and hard substrates along the canyon walls.

Chicopit Bay, part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Florida, is a small embayment at the intersection of San Pablo Creek (part of the Intercoastal Waterway) and the St. Johns River. Home to a number of small oyster beds, this area is now being dredged to help eliminate cross currents from the main shipping channel of the St. Johns. WARC researchers collect baseline environmental...

With high numbers of manatees using the Florida Power and Light power plant warm water refuge during winter, their impact on the seagrass beds in the Indian River Lagoon is considered an important indicator of the long-term capacity of the area to support the manatees. USGS is working with partners to investigate the spatial extent and intensity of manatee use of seagrass beds in the area.

The MC252 oil spill introduced hydrocarbons, dispersants, and drilling muds into the Gulf of Mexico, potentially adversely affecting the seafloor environment surrounding the spill site.

Deep-sea coral habitats are complex ecosystems at the landscape and local level. While these systems may harbor substantial levels of biodiversity, they remain inadequately investigated.

Seamounts may be biodiversity hotspots, oases, islands, and centers for endemism in the deep sea. USGS and partners explore these possibilities within the Greater and Lesser Antilles Transition Zone.

A series of ROV cruises was proposed to survey selected reefs for fish and soft coral diversity.

Florida's springs are a source of cultural, recreational, and ecological importance. But land-use changes and increased demands for groundwater due to the state's growing population have led to widespread impairment of these unique ecosystems.