Determining degradation and restoration of benthic conditions for Great Lakes Areas of Concern

摘要: ABSTRACT “Degradation of benthos” is one the most common beneficial use impairments identified in Great Lakes Areas Concern (AOCs). Management AOCs towards recovery from impairment can benefit a consolidation quantitative methods for describing benthic conditions, determining and its probable cause, detecting that are linked to targets restoring use. Benthic conditions effectively characterized by multiple descriptors, such as physicochemical sediment, toxicity macroinvertebrate community structure, bioaccumulation contaminants invertebrates, substrate stability. Degradation quantifiable terms degree which differ reference exceed environmental quality criteria or other empirically derived benchmarks associated with adverse effects. Inferring causality effects association putative stressors important de...