50272-101 



REPORT DOCUMENTATION IuRepoRt no. 



PAGE FWS/OBS-81/01 



4. Title and Subtitle 



The Ecology of New England Tidal Flats: A Community Profile 



7. Author(s) 



Robert B. 



Whitlatch 



9. Performing Organization Name and Address 



University of Connecticut 

 Department of Marine Sciences 

 Marine Research Laboratory 

 Noank, Connecticut 06340 



12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 



National Coastal Ecosystems Team 



Office of Biological Services, Fish and Wildlife Service 



U.S. Department of the Interior 



Washington, DC 20240 



3. Recipient's Accession No. 



5. Report Date 



March 1982 



8. Performing Organization Rept. No. 



10. Project/Task /Work Unit No. 



11. Contract(C) or Grant(G) No. 



(C) 



(G) 



13. Type of Report & Period Covered 



15. Supplementary Notes 



16. Abstract (Limit: 200 words) 



The purpose of this report is to provide a general perspective of tidal flats of New 

 England, the organisms commonly associated with them, and the importance of tidal flats 

 to the coastal zone viewed as a whole. The approach is taxonomically based although 

 there is also attention paid to the flow of organic matter through the tidal flat habi- 

 tat. The method of presentation is similar to that of Peterson and Peterson (1979) who 

 have described the tidal flat ecosystems of North Carolina. The reader, therefore, has 

 the opportunity of comparing and contrasting the physical and biological functioning of 

 the two regions. Chapter 1 begins with a general view of the physical, chemical, and 

 geological characteristics of tidal flat environments followed by a discussion of or- 

 ganic production and decomposition processes vital to these systems (Chapter 2). The 

 next three chapters deal with the benthic invertebrates (Chapter 3), fishes (Chapter 4), 

 and birds (Chapter 5) common to the New England tidal flats. The coverage within each 

 chapter reflects the published information available at the time of writing in addition 

 to the author's perception about the structure, function, and importance of each of the 

 taxonomic groups to the overall tidal flat system. The last chapter (Chapter 6) con- 

 siders the response of tidal flats to environmental perturbation as well as their value 

 to the New England coastal zone. 



17. Document Analysis a. Descriptors 



sand flats, mud flats, birds, fishes, benthic invertebrates 



b. Identifiers/Open-Ended Terms 



c. C0SAT1 Field/Group 



18. Availability Statement 



Unlimited 



19. Security Class (This Report) 



Unc lass ified 



20. Security Class (This Page) 



21. No. of Pages 



125 



22. Price 



(See ANSl-239.18) 



See Instructions on Reverse 



OPTIONAL FORM 272 (4-77) 

 (Formerly NTIS-35) 

 Department of Commerce 



^U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1982—571-329 3 



