Effects of Hurricane Harvey on benthos of San Antonio Bay, Texas from 2004-01-07 to 2018-10-26

Marine ecosystems can be disturbed by hurricanes causing changes in storm-surge, erosion, freshwater inflow, material loads, or water quality. A notable example is Hurricane Harvey (25 August 2017), a category 4 storm that perturbed San Antonio Bay in south Texas. Sampling for benthic abundance, biomass, and diversity was done quarterly at four stations beginning in 2004. Within 8 months of Hurricane Harvey, bivalve mollusk recruitment event was started, and it lasted until July 2018. The data suggests that benthic communities were initially devastated but took less than one year to recover. Given that storms occur at geological time scales, they are possibly not responsible for enduring devastating disturbance to benthic communities. This data supports the publication of Montagna PA (2023) Benthic infauna are resistant and resilient to hurricane disturbance. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 707:1-13. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14263