An artifi cial oyster shell reef was deployed in Rongcheng Bay, East China. However, the effects of this reef on the surrounding macrobenthic communities were unknown. We compared sedimentary factors, macrobenthic bio...An artifi cial oyster shell reef was deployed in Rongcheng Bay, East China. However, the effects of this reef on the surrounding macrobenthic communities were unknown. We compared sedimentary factors, macrobenthic biomass, abundance, and community composition and ecological indicators between the reef and non-reef areas over a one year period. The mean values for chlorophyll a(Chl a), total organic matter(TOM), total organic carbon(TOC), and total nitrogen(TN) content in surface sediments in the reef area were slightly higher than those in the non-reef area. The Chl a levels differed signifi cantly between the two areas, but the TOM, TOC, and TN were not signifi cantly different. The abundance of crustaceans was signifi cantly different between the two areas, but the abundance and biomass of polychaetes, echinoderms, mollusk did not differ signifi cantly. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance(PERMANOVA) revealed that the macrobenthic community differed signifi cantly through time and analysis of similarity multivariate analyses(ANOSIM) revealed that the macrobenthic community differed signifi cantly in some months. The ecological indicators revealed that the environmental quality of the reef area was slightly better than that of the non-reef area. Overall, our results suggest that the artifi cial oyster shell reef may change the macrobenthic community and the quality of the environment. Despite the lack of an effect in the short term, long-term monitoring is still needed to evaluate the effects of artifi cial oyster shell reefs on macrobenthic communities.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Marine Public Welfare Research Project(Nos.200805069,201305043)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41106134)National Key Technology Research and Development Program(Nos.2011BAD13B02,2010BAC68B01)
文摘An artifi cial oyster shell reef was deployed in Rongcheng Bay, East China. However, the effects of this reef on the surrounding macrobenthic communities were unknown. We compared sedimentary factors, macrobenthic biomass, abundance, and community composition and ecological indicators between the reef and non-reef areas over a one year period. The mean values for chlorophyll a(Chl a), total organic matter(TOM), total organic carbon(TOC), and total nitrogen(TN) content in surface sediments in the reef area were slightly higher than those in the non-reef area. The Chl a levels differed signifi cantly between the two areas, but the TOM, TOC, and TN were not signifi cantly different. The abundance of crustaceans was signifi cantly different between the two areas, but the abundance and biomass of polychaetes, echinoderms, mollusk did not differ signifi cantly. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance(PERMANOVA) revealed that the macrobenthic community differed signifi cantly through time and analysis of similarity multivariate analyses(ANOSIM) revealed that the macrobenthic community differed signifi cantly in some months. The ecological indicators revealed that the environmental quality of the reef area was slightly better than that of the non-reef area. Overall, our results suggest that the artifi cial oyster shell reef may change the macrobenthic community and the quality of the environment. Despite the lack of an effect in the short term, long-term monitoring is still needed to evaluate the effects of artifi cial oyster shell reefs on macrobenthic communities.
