A study using the submerged test panel method was conducted a t the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station near Barnegat Bay, New Jersey to investigate effects of the heated effluent on epibenthic communities. Test panels were placed in the intake and discharge canals and collected using SCUBA a t 28, 84, 168 and 335-day intervals between October 1970 and October 1971. Exposed panels were replaced by clean panels upon collection.Faunal resemblance, both between stations during a sampling date and within stations from one sampling date to the next, was low. Numbers of species were higher at the discharge station than a t the intake station from late fall to early summer and lower from midsummer to early fall. Overall differences in diversity at the two stations could not be detected. The optimum temperature for growth of Balanus sp. was approached more closely during winter in the discharge canal than in the intake canal where growth was retarded by cold water. Balanus eburneus appeared to have a n extended breeding season. Because of dilution of the discharged water with cooler intake water through a plant bypass system during the summer, the effluent was not seriously harmful to amphipod reproduction. Season abundances of numerous invertebrates a t both stations are reported and possible power plant effects are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.