such as individual species foraging patterns and local fluxes of food 

 source--these being either impossible to measure or impractical within 

 the scope of most studies. Until more dynamic approaches to studying 

 infaunal communities can be developed, standard geological sediment 

 parameters will continue to be overemphasized. 



Macrofauna and meiofauna have been variously defined but are 

 usually respectively regarded as those organisms retained by and 

 passing through a 0.5-millimeter screen (Hulings and Gray, 1971; Cox, 

 1976). In sublittoral sediments meiofauna comprise only a small pro- 

 portion of community biomass (usually less than 5 percent) and for this 

 reason are usually ignored in sampling programs. However, their con- 

 tribution to community metabolism and numbers of species and individuals 

 is more significant (Weiser, 1959; Mclntyre, 1969; Gerlach, 1971). 

 Intertidal beach meiofaunal biomass may equal that of the macrofauna 

 (Gerlach, 1971). The meiofauna may include early developmental stages of 

 macrofaunal species. Most studies, including this one, have focused on 

 macrofaunal relationships. 



II. MARINE SEDIMENTARY COMMUNITIES 



Nearshore exposed coast sedimentary environments are physically 

 restrictive and outwardly appear to be biologically barren. Further- 

 more, practical difficulties exist in effectively sampling subtidal 

 areas within the surge zone. Perhaps, it is for these reasons that few 

 studies have comprehensively dealt with these nearshore biological 

 communities. Pager's (1968) study of a subtidal sand bottom was the 

 first to be based upon direct observation. 



Early intertidal studies are cited by Hedgepeth (1957) in his 

 review of sandy beaches. Dahl (1953) described general worldwide 

 zonation patterns of sand beach macrofauna and their relation to tidal 

 cycles. In North America the most complete marine beach studies are 

 those of Pearse, Humm, and Wharton (1942) and Pamatmat (1968); the 

 latter extensively detailed physical-chemical and metabolic relation- 

 ships on a protected bay intertidal flat. Unfortunately, the informa- 

 tion is not specifically relevant to exposed coastal environments. 

 Recent investigations of sand beaches include those of Mclntyre (1968), 

 Brown (1971), Ansell, et al . (1972), Dexter (1972), and Cox (1976). 



Subtidal sediment populations until recently have been studied 

 primarily from a descriptive standpoint. Early studies by Petersen 

 (1913, 1915, 1918) helped shape the traditional biocoenosis view of a 

 relatively uniform physical habitat dominated by a small number of 

 conspicuous species. This view persisted through studies by Thorson 

 (1955, 1957) who documented the occurrence of similar species within 

 restricted sediment types from different geographic regions, implying 

 that species show fairly precise selection for particle type or 

 correlated variables. Observed distributions fit this contention and 

 there is some experimental evidence supporting this hypothesis (reviews 



