Narragansett Bay is representative of New England, USA urbanized estuaries, with colonization in the early 17th century, and development into industrial and transportation centers in the late 18th and early 20th century. Increasing nationwide population and lack of infrastructure maintenance led to environmental degradation, and then eventual improvement after implementation of contaminant control and sewage treatment starting in the 1970s. Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure was expected to respond to these environmental changes. This study assembled data sets from the 1950s through 2010s to examine whether quantitative aggregate patterns in the benthic community corresponded qualitatively to stressors and management actions in the watershed. In Greenwich Bay and Providence River, patterns of benthic response corresponded to the decline and then improvement in sewage treatment at the Fields Point wastewater treatment plant. In Mount Hope Bay, the benthos corresponded to changes in bay fish populations due to thermal discharge from the Brayton Point power plant. The benthos of the Upper West Passage corresponded to climatic changes that caused regime shifts in the plankton and fish communities. Future work will examine the effects of further environmental improvements in the face of continued climatic changes and population growth.

纳拉甘西特湾是美国新英格兰城市化河口的代表，在 17 世纪初开始殖民化，在 18 世纪末和 20 世纪初发展成为工业和交通中心。全国人口的增加和基础设施维护的缺乏导致环境恶化，然后在 1970 年代开始实施污染控制和污水处理后最终得到改善。预计底栖大型无脊椎动物群落结构将对这些环境变化做出反应。本研究收集了 1950 年代至 2010 年代的数据集，以检验底栖生物群落的定量聚合模式是否在质量上与流域的压力源和管理行动相对应。在格林威治湾和普罗维登斯河，底栖反应模式对应于菲尔兹点污水处理厂污水处理的下降和改善。在希望山湾，由于布雷顿角发电厂的热排放，底栖生物与海湾鱼类种群的变化相对应。上西航道的底栖生物对应于导致浮游生物和鱼类群落发生政权转变的气候变化。未来的工作将研究在持续的气候变化和人口增长的情况下进一步改善环境的影响。上西航道的底栖生物对应于导致浮游生物和鱼类群落发生政权转变的气候变化。未来的工作将研究在持续的气候变化和人口增长的情况下进一步改善环境的影响。上西航道的底栖生物对应于导致浮游生物和鱼类群落发生政权转变的气候变化。未来的工作将研究在持续的气候变化和人口增长的情况下进一步改善环境的影响。