Community structure changes of macrobenthos in the South Yellow Sea

• Published in: Chinese journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 248 - 255
• Main Author: 张均龙 徐凤山 刘瑞玉
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.03.2012; SP Science Press; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Benthos; Biology; Brackish; Brackishwater environment; Cluster analysis; Coastal zone; coasts; Coexistence; cold; Cold water; Cold water masses; Community composition; Community ecology; Community structure; Composition; Dominant species; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Estuaries; Grain size; Human influences; humans; Marine; Marine organisms; Microorganisms; Multidimensional methods; Multidimensional scaling; Ocean currents; Oceanography; rivers; Scaling; Seawater; Sediment; Sediments; Species composition; species diversity; temperature; Warm water; Water; Water depth; Water masses; Water temperature; Yellow Sea; Zoobenthos; 南黄海; 大型底栖动物; 物种共存; 生态环境; 社会构成; 群落结构; 马萨诸塞州; 黄海海域; Yellow Sea; INW, Huanghai Sea; INW, China, People's Rep., Changjiang Delta; China, People's Rep., Changjiang R; benthic macrofauna; community structure; South Yellow Sea; Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass
• ISSN: 0254-4059; 2096-5508; 1993-5005; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-012-1076-0

The ecological environment in the Yellow Sea has changed greatly from the 1950s to 1990s and this has had significant impact on marine organisms. In this study, data on soft-sediment macrobenthos occurring in depths from 25 m to 81 m in the South Yellow Sea were used to compare changes in community structure. The agglomerative classification (CLUSTER) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) methods were applied. Five communities were recognized by cluster analysis: 1. The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass community dominated by cold water species, which changed slightly in species composition since the 1950s; 2. The mixed community with the coexistence of cold water species and warm water species, as had been reported previously; 3. The polychaete-dominated eurythermal community in which the composition changed considerably as some dominant species disappeared or decreased; 4. The Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuarine community, with some typical estuarine species; 5. The community affected by the Yellow Sea Warm Current. The greatest change occurred in the coastal area, which indicated that the change may be caused by human activities. Macrobenthos in the central region remained almost unchanged, particularly the cold water species shielded by the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass. The depth, temperature and median grain size of sediments were important factors affecting the distributions of macrobenthos in the South Yellow Sea.