<descriptor thcode="62"><thesaurus thcode="62" name="Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard" scope="Categories of ecosystems for coastal, estuarine, and marine environments." creator="FGDC" rights="public domain" date="2017-05-10" codetype="alpha" prefix="cmecs" uri="https://www2.usgs.gov/science/CMECS" tblname="cmecs" root_code="root" contact="pschweitzer"><category><term thcode="25" code="16" name="hierarchical" parent="11" scope="Substantive broader-narrower relationships exist among the terms."/><term thcode="25" code="16" name="hierarchical" parent="11" scope="Substantive broader-narrower relationships exist among the terms."/></category><altlabel><altlabel>CMECS</altlabel><altlabel>CMECS</altlabel><altlabel>Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS)</altlabel><altlabel>Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS)</altlabel></altlabel></thesaurus><term thcode="62" code="BC-544" name="Pelletized, Fluid Surface Layer" parent="BC-427" scope="Biotic Group: Areas distinguished by a fluid, fecal-rich, pelletized surface layer, which is typically 5 - 15 millimeters thick (Rhoads and Young 1970). ..."/><bt><term thcode="62" code="BC-427" name="Inferred Fauna" parent="BC-391" scope="Biotic Subclass: Areas dominated by evidence (real or inferred) of faunal activity, but where the fauna themselves are not currently present or evident, given the sampling methodology."/><term thcode="62" code="BC-391" name="Faunal Bed" parent="BC-389" scope="Biotic Class: Seabeds dominated or characterized by a cover of animals that are closely associated with the bottom, including attached, clinging, sessile, infaunal, burrowing, laying, interstitial, and slow-moving animals, but not animals that have created substrate (Reef Biota). ..."/><term thcode="62" code="BC-389" name="Benthic/Attached Biota" parent="BC-C002" scope="Biotic Setting: This biotic setting describes areas where biota lives on, in, or in close association with the seafloor or other substrates (e.g., pilings, buoys), extending down into the sediment to include the sub-surface layers of substrate that contain multi-cellular life. ..."/><term thcode="62" code="BC-C002" name="Biotic" parent="root"/><term thcode="62" code="root" name="CMECS" scope="Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard: Category terms encompassing waters from the head of tide or inland incursion of ocean salinity to the splash zone of the coasts to the deepest portions of the oceans and the deep waters of the Great Lakes."/></bt></descriptor>