Benthic ecology and heavy metal accumulation

The benthos of San Francisco Bay (the community of invertebrates living in bottom sediments) is an important source of food for fish, birds, and humans, and is dominated by exotic species introduced during the past 130 years.  These species are largely small, hardy, short-lived, rapidly-reproducing species (much like weeds) whose distributions and abundances vary widely in both space and time.  As a result, they appear resilient in the face of both natural and human-induced disturbances.