This article describes a study done where multiple methods were used in order to monitor benthic habitats in the Boston Harbor and their reactions to reductions in waste water associated with the outfalls (pipelines or tunnels carrying treated waste water) of the mouth of the harbor and offshore. Between the years of 1992 to 2006 there was an indication that benthic habitats in the Boston Harbor shifted from an anaerobic state to an aerobic state, and these changes can be directly attributed to improvements in waste water treatment as well as the placement of the outfall pipelines. From 1992 to 2000, when the outfall pipelines were put in place, there was over a 90% reduction in the amount of organic material used in the waste water treatment process and there were also a reduction in the amount of nutrients used in the treatment process and this in turn led to decreases in primary production of benthic habitats. The most obvious change was the increase (1992) and then decline (2005) of Amphipod tube mats, which are organisms along the bottom of estuaries in the Northeastern U.S, in these benthic habitats. These tube mats change the sediment level in estuaries and determine the amount of larva that can live in the estuary.

The topic of this study was the health or abundance of benthic habitats in the Boston Harbor attributed to waste water treatment as well as waste water outfalls. The study asks the question: how do ecosystems of the Boston Harbor, specifically benthic habitats, respond to the relocation of outfalls and better waste water treatment? The type of data needed to answer this question is quantitative and aggregate, interval or ratio data. In order to collect this data there were surveys taken at various site locations with benthic habitats within the Boston Harbor. The data samples collected were then analyzed for patterns across the various stations and for sediment size, level, as well as depth.

This article was not written for the average person to understand it; many terms and keywords were not well defined. However there were a good number of graphs and tables to visually describe the findings from the study.

Diaz, R. J., Rhoads, D. C., Blake, J. A., Kropp, R. K., & Keay, K. E. (2008). Long-term Trends of Benthic Habitats Related to Reduction in Wastewater Discharge to Boston Harbor. Estuaries and Coasts, 31(6), 1184-1197. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12237-008-9094-z