The objectives of the present study are to: (1) Describe the macro-invertebrate species composition and seasonal changes in abundance of the benthic infauna within an eelgrass bed; (2) Observe what immediate effects occur to the benthic community as a result of experimental removal of eelgrass plants from plants within the Zostera bed; (3) Measure the seasonal variation of eelgrass turion length over an annual cycle and determine its correlation to biomass (dry weight); (4) Examine, by means of field experiments, the importance of incident solar irradiation in affecting the seasonal growth of Zostera; and (5) Determine the relationship, if any, between the abundance of major invertebrate species and the abundance of eelgrass as determined by mean turion length.

Confronted with a diverse sandflat community of interacting organisms and a spectrum of physical forces, a meaningful community analysis should begin with a description of physical characteristics and faunal distributions over time. The functional importance of certain species in the community should then be investigated by using both field and laboratory experiments. Consequently, the purpose of this research was twofold: (1) to apply the methods of similarity and gradient analysis to describe the faunal gradation on an intertidal sandflat and; (2) use these data to design a predator exclusion field experiment aimed at assessing the effects of shorebird, crab and fish predation on certain infaunal and epifaunal invertebrates.