Ecology of marine sediments : from science to management

Introduction 1. Sampling sediments 2. The sediment and related environmental factors 3. Describing assemblages of sediment-living organisms 4. Diversity 5. Functional diversity of benthic assemblages 6. Spatial variations in sediment systems 7. Temporal variations in benthic assemblages 8. Human impacts on soft sediment systems - trawling and fisheries 9. Human impacts on soft sediment systems - pollution 10. The soft-sediment benthos in the ecosystem 11. The benthos in the management of marine sediments Concluding remarks