Long-term trends in the response of benthic macrofauna to climate variability in the Lavaca-Colorado Estuary, Texas.

The article presents a study on the long-term trends in the response of benthic macrofauna to the hydrological conditions in the Lavaca-Colorado Estuary in Texas. The study included four stations representing a range of hydrography which were sampled from April 1988 to October 2008. The relationship between climate variability and local salinity patterns and benthic populations were investigated with the use of Oceanic Nino Index (ONI), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the North Pacific Index (NPI). The study suggested that the benthic macrofaunal communities are shaped by global climate variability and its effects on local salinity patterns and that there is no significant linear trend in temperature over time.