Community composition and spatial and temporal changes of macrobenthos in intertidal zone of southern Yellow Sea

Abstract:

In order to investigate the changes of macrobenthos community in the intertidal zone of south Yellow Sea, a survey of 10 sections of three voyages was carried out in May, August and October 2019.The species composition, biomass, density and species diversity of the macrobenthos were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis.A total of 103 species belonging to 10 phyla were found, including 59 species in spring, 70 species in summer and 56 species in autumn;The seasonal variation of biomass and biomass density was higher in summer than in spring and autumn, and higher in autumn than in spring and summer;Spatially, the biomass and biomass density of the northern, central and southern parts of the south Yellow Sea were compared, showing a trend of higher in the northern part than in the southern and central parts.The Shannon Wiener diversity index (H'), Margalef richness index (d) and Peilou evenness index (J) were 2.02-4.24, 0.83-4.00 and 0.63-0.93, respectively, with the mean values of 3.16, 2.35 and 0.85;The community diversity level in the north (3.53) was higher than that in the south (3.11) and the middle (3.02).The dominant species of macrobenthos in the south Yellow Sea were molluscs, annelids and crustaceans.The results of cluster analysis showed that the 10 transects could be divided into three groups, which were basically divided into the north, the middle and the south. The differences of benthic community in intertidal zone of the south Yellow Sea mainly came from the spatial changes.According to the clustering results, the typical species and divergent species of the three groups were calculated. The typical species in the north were mainly molluscs and crustaceans, the typical species in the middle were molluscs and annelids, and the typical species in the south were molluscs.The results supplement the basic data of macrobenthos in the intertidal zone of the southern Yellow Sea, and provide a scientific basis for the assessment and protection of the intertidal benthos resources.