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<DIV><STRONG>Marine Ecology</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV>Article first published online: 16 JUN 2011</DIV>
<DIV id=doi>DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2011.00461.x</DIV></DIV>
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<DIV class=articleTitle><FONT size=4>High species density patterns in
macrofaunal invertebrate communities in the marine benthos</FONT></DIV>
<DIV id=cr1>John Oliver<SUP>1</SUP>, Kamille Hammerstrom<SUP>1</SUP>, Erika
McPhee-Shaw<SUP>1</SUP>, Peter Slattery<SUP>1</SUP>, James Oakden<SUP>1</SUP>,
Stacy Kim<SUP>1</SUP>, S. Hartwell<SUP>2</SUP></DIV>
<DIV id=publishedOnlineDate> </DIV>
<DIV><SUP>1</SUP> Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA, USA 95039
<SUP>2</SUP> NOAA, Center for Coastal Monitoring & Assessment, Silver
Spring, MO, USA.orrespondence: Kamille K. Hammerstrom. E-mail: <!--TODO: clickthrough URL--><A title="Link to email address"
href="mailto:khammerstrom@mlml.calstate.edu" shape=rect><FONT
color=#007e8a>khammerstrom@mlml.calstate.edu</FONT></A></DIV>
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<UL class="" id=footnotes><FONT color=#007e8a></FONT></UL>
<DIV id=publicationHistoryDetails jQuery1308623283552="10">
<H4>Abstract</H4></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<P>Species density of macrofaunal invertebrates living in marine soft sediments
was highest at the shelf-slope break (100–150 m) in Monterey Bay (449
m<SUP><FONT size=1>−2</FONT></SUP>). There were 337 species m<SUP><FONT
size=1>−2</FONT></SUP> in the mid-shelf mud zone (80 m). There were fewer
species along the slope: 205 m<SUP><FONT size=1>−2</FONT></SUP> from the lower
slope (950-2000 m) and 335 m<SUP><FONT size=1>−2</FONT></SUP> on the upper slope
(250-750 m). Species density was highest inside the bay (328-446 m<SUP><FONT
size=1>−2</FONT></SUP>) compared to outside (336-339 m<SUP><FONT
size=1>−2</FONT></SUP>), when examining samples at selected water depths
(60-1000 m). There was little difference in local species density from 1 km of
shoreline compared to regional species density along 1000 km of shoreline at
both shelf and slope depths. The highest species densities worldwide in the
literature are recorded along the Carolina slope in the Atlantic Ocean, where
peak species density (436/0.81 m<SUP><FONT size=1>2</FONT></SUP>) at 800 m and
values at the largest sample areas are similar to those on the Monterey Bay
shelf.<U> <STRONG>We speculate that the highest species densities occur where
ocean water exchanges energy with shoaling topography at the continental margin,
bringing more food to the benthos -- areas such as the very productive waters in
the upwelling system of Monterey
Bay</STRONG></U><STRONG>.</STRONG></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>