Detection of thermal pollution: Variability of benthic communities at two different spatial scales in an area influenced by a coastal power station

The influence of a coastal power station thermal discharge on spatial varia bility of meiobenthic and macrobenthic community abundances in the Gulf of Follonica (Western Mediterranean) mas investigated using Beyond BACI design s in September 1996. Analysis of benthic communities showed that heated eff luent seemed not to influence assemblage structure or the spatial distribut ion of the study taxa, Abundance and variability of the benthic assemblages either did not exhibit significant differences between impact and control locations or the control locations were as different from each other as the y were from the impacted location. We conclude that the assemblage abundanc es in the impacted location were within the range of spatial variability en countered naturally on the western side of the Gulf of Follonica, This rese arch emphasises the importance of including more than one control in any st udy of a potential impact. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.