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Scope of Work:
The goal of this multi-year project is to
understand the special and temporal dynamics of the biological community
of the Copper River Delta in order to predict how this community
would respond to anthropogenic or naturally induced changes in the
physical/chemical environment. Our approach to achieve this goal
has been to focus on the central part of the food web (benthic invertebrates)
and then to add components that focus on higher (predators) and
lower trophic levels (primary producers). A collaboration among
Drs. Sean Powers, U. of South Alabama, Mary Anne Bishop, PWSSC,
Charles H. Peterson, UNC Chapel Hill. All field work is based out
of Cordova.
The field program is designed to address
four objectives.
- Characterize the spatial abundance of macrobnethic
species inhabiting intertidal sediments within the Copper River
Delta and Orca Inlet, Southeast Prince William Sound.
- Determine and quantify those factors that best
serve as predictors for primary production in the overlying water
and within the sediments of tidal flat communities.
- Quantify the special and temporal abundance
of demersal and avian predators and assess the role of epibenthic
predation on recruitment of intertidal macroinvertebrates.
- Develop a cost-effective strategy and
sampling design for long-term monitoring of the intertidal sedimentary
habitats.
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