Taylor, Laura Anne2024-08-152024-08-1519861986https://hdl.handle.net/1828/19874No one successional sequence of taxa or ecological groups was evident in arti­ficial substrate communities. Successional patterns varied seasonally and with substrate type. Random immigration patterns probably also contributed to the variation in succession. Tailing and control substrates were colonized by similar taxonomic assem­blages. However, a tailing substrate retarded the rate of community develop­ment. The component of tailings responsible for this has not been identified. Depressed colonization rated in tailings may cause the tailing community to equi­librate at a lower species number than controls. Alternatively, tailings may reach the same equilibrium as cont rols. However, the time to equilibrium in tailings will be longer than in controls. Macrobenthic communities in Rupert Inlet close to the tailngs outfall or in the main path of the turbidity current are in very early stages of succession. Contin­ual disturbance form tailings discharge is probably responsible for this.168 pagesAvailable to the World Wide WebThesis