Why Monitor Benthos?

The Chesapeake Bay Programs assess benthos because they:

• are reliable and sensible indicators of habitat quality in aquatic environments,
• respond to multiple types of environmental stress,
• reflect environmental conditions that vary over time,
• live in bottom sediments where exposure to contaminants and oxygen stress are most frequent, and
• indicate local conditions because they have limited mobility and cannot migrate to avoid stressful situations.

URL http://esm.versar.com/vcb/benthos/benthos/why.htm

Revised: March 20, 2003.