Contents -- A tribute to John Stuart Gray (1941-2007) -- Introduction -- 1 Sampling sediments -- 1.1 Sampling design -- 1.2 Sampling the fauna -- 2 The sediment and related environmental factors -- 2.1 Grain size and related variables -- 2.2 Other important environmental variables -- 2.3 The fauna and environmental variables -- 3 Describing assemblages of sediment-living organisms -- 3.1 Abundance models -- 3.2 Species occurrences -- 3.3 Size and biomass spectra -- 3.4 Describing faunal patterns -- 3.5 Describing assemblages -- 4 Diversity -- 4.1 Measuring diversity -- 4.2 Scale and biodiversity -- 4.3 Turnover (beta) diversity -- 4.4 Patterns of diversity in benthic assemblages -- 4.5 Latitudinal and longitudinal gradients of diversity -- 4.6 The link between species richness and system function -- 5 Functional diversity of benthic assemblages -- 5.1 Ecological functioning -- 5.2 Secondary production in benthic macrofauna -- 5.3 Production estimates in meiofauna -- 5.4 Energy budgets for single species -- 5.5 Elemental budgets -- 5.6 Production: biomass ratios -- 5.7 Community metabolism -- 6 Spatial variations in sediment systems -- 6.1 The importance of scale -- 6.2 Measuring scale effects on sediment systems -- 6.3 Biological interactions causing disturbances -- 6.4 The settlement process -- 6.5 Causes of change in dominance patterns -- 6.6 Generalizing effects of disturbance -- 7 Temporal variations in benthic assemblages -- 7.1 Seasonal patterns -- 7.2 Long-term patterns -- 7.3 The stability of benthic communities -- 8 Human impacts on soft-sediment systems-trawling and fisheries -- 8.1 Ecological effects of trawling -- 8.2 Common types of trawls and dredges -- 8.3 Effects of gear on different sediment types -- 8.4 General effects of trawling on benthic systems -- 9 Human impacts on soft-sediment systems-pollution.

9.1 Effects of increased organic matter on numbers and biomass -- 9.2 Effects of organic enrichment on diversity -- 9.3 Effects of discharges from the oil industry -- 9.4 Effects of heavy metals and xenobiotic chemicals on benthic fauna -- 9.5 Adaptive strategies to pollution/disturbance -- 9.6 Sediment quality standards -- 9.7 Integrative benthic assessments -- 9.8 Recovery of the benthic community after stress -- 10 The soft-sediment benthos in the ecosystem -- 10.1 Food webs, and feeding and functional groups -- 10.2 Ecosystem models -- 10.3 Network analysis: cycling index and average path length -- 10.4 The European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) -- 11 The benthos in the management of marine sediments -- 11.1 The use and analysis of benthic data -- 11.2 The DPSIR approach-indicators and objectives -- 11.3 Benthic monitoring -- 11.4 The role of the benthos in a priori assessments -- 11.5 The role of benthos in quality assessments -- 11.6 Predictive models and marine benthic management -- 11.7 Benthic analytical quality control and quality assurance (AQC/QA) and data reliability -- Concluding remarks -- References and Further Reading -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.