Seasonal and spatial variations of macro- and megabenthic community characteristics in two sections of the East China Sea

• Published in: Chinese journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 35; no. 5; pp. 1152 - 1164
• Main Author: 徐勇 李新正 马林 董栋 寇琦 隋吉星 甘志彬 王洪法
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01.09.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Benthic communities; Biodiversity; Cluster analysis; Community structure; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Flowers & plants; Mollusks; Nitrogen; NMDS排序; Oceanography; Offshore; Ordination; Organic carbon; Rivers; Seasons; Shellfish; Spatial analysis; Spatial variations; Species diversity; Species richness; Spring; Summer; Total organic carbon; 东海; 季节; 宏观; 底栖生物群落; 物种数量; 空间变化; 群落特征; East China Sea; Kuroshio Current; diversity; East China Sea; megabenthic fauna; macrobenthic fauna
• ISSN: 0254-4059; 2096-5508; 1993-5005; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-017-6085-6

In spring and summer 2011, the macro- and megabenthic fauna in two sections of the East China Sea were investigated using an Agassiz net trawl to detect the seasonal and spatial variations of benthic community characteristics and the relation to environmental variables. The total number of species increased slightly from spring （131 species） to summer （133） whereas the percentage of Mollusca decreased significantly. The index of relative importance （IRI） indicated that the top five important species changed completely from spring to summer. Species number, abundance and biomass in summer were significantly higher than in spring, but no significant difference was observed among areas （coastal, transitional and oceanic areas, divided basically from inshore to offshore）. Species richness （at）, diversity （H） and evenness （J） showed no significant seasonal or spatial variations. Cluster analysis and nMDS ordination identified three benthic communities from inshore to offshore, corresponding to the three areas. Analysis of Similarity （ANOSIM） indicated the overall significant difference in community structure between seasons and among areas. K-dominance curves revealed the high intrinsic diversity in the offshore area. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that the coastal community was positively correlated to total nitrogen and total organic carbon in spring, but negatively in summer; oceanic community was positively correlated to total nitrogen and total organic carbon in both seasons. Species such as Coelorhynchus multispinulosus, Neobythites sivicola, Lepidotrigla alata, Solenocera melantho, Parapenaeus fissuroides, Oratosquilla gonypetes and Spiropagurus spiriger occurred exclusively in the offshore oceanic area and their presence may reflect the influence of the offshore Kuroshio Current.