ME'FHODS OF S A M P L l N U TllE BENTHOS
177
was in the first place confined to the Oanish fiords, where there were
evidently few difticulties in obtaining an adequate sample of the muddy
bottom. Resides investigating tQe ~Ble of the benthos in the economy
of the fiords, Petcrsen (1913) advanced the concept of animal communities among the members of the bottom fauna. The idea of a
community was borrowed from the plant ecologists, who were at that
time well ahead of animal ecologists, but Petersen did not intend to
imply that his communities had the closely integrated structure of
terrestrial plant communities. Many of the principles and techniques
used by the botanist can nevertheless be applied to their study.
This is because the animals are mainly sessile or slow-moving and
can therefore be mapped in a two-dimensional quadrat (although
the exact position of individuals is seldom known) just as can plant
communities,
Following Petersen's work, other biologists attempted to apply
his community concepts to their own areas. For example, the Petersen
grab was used in the North Sea by Davis (1923, 1925), Hagmeier
(1926), and Stephen (1923, 1933, 1934); in the English Channel by
Ford (1923) ; in the Adriatic Sea by Vatova (1949) ; in the Arctic by
Zenkewitch (Zenkewitsch, 1937 ; Zenkewitch et at!., 1928); in East
Greenland waters by Thorson (1933, 1934) ; and in North America by
Shelford et al. (1O35). Most of these workcrs found that some modifications to Petersrii's communities were necessary when applied to other
areas, but Stephen preferred the concept of zonation, and it may well
be that zonation of individual species rather than the existence of
distinct well-defined communities is more acceptable to some workers
today. A review of benthos communities is given by Jones (1950),
and a recent synthesis of the community concept in which the common
pattern running through benthos communities on a world-wide basis
is given by Thorson (1957b).
The period between the two World Wars saw a great increase in
studies of fisheries and plankton distribution and productivity, and
to some extent benthos studies declined after initial surveys with the
Petersen grab had heen made. It soon became clear that the Petersen
grab did not take a very good sample in open sea areas, and many
attempts to devise better quantitative samples were made, perhaps
the most successful being the van Veen grab (Thamdrup, 1938), which
is a grab which is closed by means of the pull exerted on two long arms,
so giving considerable mechanical advantage (see p. 197). It may well
be that the manifest inefficiency of some of the samplers available
during this period deterred some workers from taking tip benthos
studiefi.
177
was in the first place confined to the Oanish fiords, where there were
evidently few difticulties in obtaining an adequate sample of the muddy
bottom. Resides investigating tQe ~Ble of the benthos in the economy
of the fiords, Petcrsen (1913) advanced the concept of animal communities among the members of the bottom fauna. The idea of a
community was borrowed from the plant ecologists, who were at that
time well ahead of animal ecologists, but Petersen did not intend to
imply that his communities had the closely integrated structure of
terrestrial plant communities. Many of the principles and techniques
used by the botanist can nevertheless be applied to their study.
This is because the animals are mainly sessile or slow-moving and
can therefore be mapped in a two-dimensional quadrat (although
the exact position of individuals is seldom known) just as can plant
communities,
Following Petersen's work, other biologists attempted to apply
his community concepts to their own areas. For example, the Petersen
grab was used in the North Sea by Davis (1923, 1925), Hagmeier
(1926), and Stephen (1923, 1933, 1934); in the English Channel by
Ford (1923) ; in the Adriatic Sea by Vatova (1949) ; in the Arctic by
Zenkewitch (Zenkewitsch, 1937 ; Zenkewitch et at!., 1928); in East
Greenland waters by Thorson (1933, 1934) ; and in North America by
Shelford et al. (1O35). Most of these workcrs found that some modifications to Petersrii's communities were necessary when applied to other
areas, but Stephen preferred the concept of zonation, and it may well
be that zonation of individual species rather than the existence of
distinct well-defined communities is more acceptable to some workers
today. A review of benthos communities is given by Jones (1950),
and a recent synthesis of the community concept in which the common
pattern running through benthos communities on a world-wide basis
is given by Thorson (1957b).
The period between the two World Wars saw a great increase in
studies of fisheries and plankton distribution and productivity, and
to some extent benthos studies declined after initial surveys with the
Petersen grab had heen made. It soon became clear that the Petersen
grab did not take a very good sample in open sea areas, and many
attempts to devise better quantitative samples were made, perhaps
the most successful being the van Veen grab (Thamdrup, 1938), which
is a grab which is closed by means of the pull exerted on two long arms,
so giving considerable mechanical advantage (see p. 197). It may well
be that the manifest inefficiency of some of the samplers available
during this period deterred some workers from taking tip benthos
studiefi.