A numerical analysis of the distribution of the benthic infauna of the southeastern Bering Sea shelf

• Main Author: Haflinger, Karl E.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 1978
• Subjects: Bering Sea; Fairbanks; Nunivak; Nunivak Island; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/5223

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1978 The continental shelf region of the southeastern Bering Sea may be classified into five provinces (station groups) based on infaunal distribution. Three large station groups lie in adjacent bands extending from the Alaskan coast to the shelf break, roughly paralleling the bathymetry. Two smaller groups occupying positions at the head of Bristol Bay and off Nunivak Island were identified. Stations in the northwestern section of the study area (near the Pribilof Islands) show no strong affinity to the major station groups. Fourteen major biocoenoses identified on the basis of species distribution show strong correlation with the spatial positioning of station groups. Spatial patterning of these species groups is described on the basis of their representation at station groups. Characteristic differences in trophic structure between station groups are attributed to the effects of storm-induced turbulence in nearshore environments and periodic intensive input of organic carbon in the midshelf region.