CONTENTS 



Page 



CONVERSION FACTORS, U.S. CUSTOMARY TO METRIC (SI) 6 



I INTRODUCTION 7 



1 . Background 7 



2. Purpose 8 



II STUDY AREA 9 



III SAMPLING STATIONS AND RATIONALE 9 



IV SAMPLING AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES 12 



1. Hydrology 12 



2. Sedimentology 12 



3. Benthos 13 



V RESULTS 14 



1 . General 14 



2. Hydrology 15 



3. Sedimentology 15 



4. Benthos 18 



VI CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION 27 



LITERATURE CITED 30 



APPENDIX 



A HYDROLOGICAL AND SEDIMENT DATA BY STATION 31 



B CHECKLIST OF ORGANISMS 42 



C BIOLOGICAL AND BIOSTATISTICAL DATA BY STATION 46 



D FAUNAL SIMILARITY MATRICES 131 



E FAUNAL CLASSIFICATION ANALYSES 134 



F STABILITY ANALYSES 137 



TABLES 



1 Water temperature and salinity at stations A and B before the 1974-75 



dredging, and at station 1 before and after the 1976 dredging for 



beach nourishment at Panama City Beach, Florida 16 



2 Textural and statistical properties of sediments in control 



(undredged bottom) and experimental (borrow pit) samples taken 



1 year after dredging at stations 1 to 6 along the 9-meter depth 



contour off Panama City Beach, Florida, July 1977 16 



3 Species in dominant phyla (listed alphabetically) that were 



numerically abundant at one or more base-line or control stations 



offshore Panama City Beach, Florida, November 1974 to November 1977 . 19 



