Patterns of Distribution of Macro-fauna in Different Types of Estuarine, Soft Sediment Habitats Adjacent to Urban and Non-urban Areas

Urban development typically creates a large number of potentially interacting disturbances that may cause impacts on assemblages of animals and plans in estuarine habitats. We tested predictions from the general model that intertidal areas exposed to different types of disturbances have different types of assemblages of benthic macrofauna. Different parts of the Port Hacking Estuary (New South Wales, Australia) are exposed to varying degrees of disturbance by human activities. We predicted that the average structure of assemblages of intertidal animals, and patterns of variability would differ between urban and non-urban areas of Port Hacking. Consistent with previous observations from the literature, there were differences in average structure between urban and non-urban sandy areas. Qualitative differences between abundances of individual taxa in urban and non-urban areas were generally not consistent with previous observations. Differences between assemblages in urban and non-urban areas were not observed in muddy sediments, nor in sediments among mangroves and seagrass. No significant differences in variability was observed between urban and non-urban areas. Two general models may be proposed to explain the observed differences in response to urbanization in different habitats: (1) animals are exposed to different levels or combinations of disturbances in different habitats; or (2) assemblages of animals differ in sensitivity to disturbances among habitats.