Spatiotemporal variations of benthic macrofaunal community in the Xiamen Amphioxus Nature Reserve, eastern South China Sea

In order to realize the spatiotemporal variations of benthic macrofaunal communities at the"Amphioxus Sand"habitat,six surveys including four seasons and three consecutive summers(i.e.,2014,2015 and 2016)were conducted in two core sites,i.e.,Huangcuo(HC)and Nanxian-Shibaxian(NX),in the Xiamen Amphioxus Nature Reserve in China.A total of 155 species of macrofauna were recorded,therein,polychaetes were dominant in terms of species number and density.Significant spatiotemporal variations of macrofaunal communities were observed.The density of polychaetes and the biomass of molluscs in the HC site were higher than those in the NX site.Macrofauna were more diverse and abundant in the cold seasons(winter and spring)than that in the warm seasons(summer and autumn).The annual variations of macrofaunal communities may be attributed to the changes in sediment texture among the three years of the survey.The variations in macrofaunal communities were mainly related to the proportion of polychaetes within the community.In addition,the density of amphioxus(include Branchiostoma japonicum and B.belcheri)was negatively correlated to that of polychaetes,bivalves,and crustaceans.Amphioxus was less likely to be found in the sediments with higher silt and clay content.Five biotic indices including Margaref’s richness index(d),Peilou’s evenness index(J′),Shannon-Wiener diversity index(H′),AMBI and M-AMBI were calculated in the present study.AMBI seems suitable in assessing benthic health at the"Amphioxus Sand"habitat,and a potential risk of ecological health in Xiamen Amphioxus Nature Reserve should be aware.

Benthic Algal Community in Relationship to Perturbation in the Tiko Mangrove Estuary Cameroon

Mangrove forests are among the most productive natural ecosystems in the world and offer invaluable ecological functions, yet are seriously threatened. Anthropogenic activities within mangroves can cause alteration of physicochemical parameters of sediments which in turn affect the assemblage of biological communities. This study was designed to assess the impact of anthropogenic disturbances within the Tiko mangroves on the benthic algal community. Perturbations were assessed through questionnaires. Two sets of composite sediment samples were collected for physicochemical and algal analyses from seven sites within the mangroves following standard methods. Seven drivers of change were identified (agriculture, human settlement, logging, fuel wood collection, fishing, fish smoking and petty trading) as the main perturbations of the ecosystem. A total of 141 benthic species were identified at the different sites. The Bacillariophyta were the most abundant with 60 algal species followed by Chlorophyta with 38 algal species. The most dominant species were Chlorobotrys regularis (50) and Microcytis sp (38). Site 3 (settlement site) was the most diversed with 72 species. The mean abundance of benthic algae ranged from 0.59 ± 0.17 to 2.08 ± 0.58. High concentrations of nutrients and the presence of Bacillariophyta and Microcystis suggest pollution. There is a need to monitor activities carried out around the mangrove ecosystem with respect to quantity and quality of waste discharged into the environment since this is a highly sensitive environment.

Studies on island intertidal benthic ecology in Fujian

A total of 862 benthic species were identified in the island intertidal zone in Fujian, of which 734 species are animals and 128 species algae. Determination of Jaccard's similarity index of species was made on the intertidal communities around 11 major islands. Based on hierarchical clustering (WPGMA) and polar ordination, the benthic communities may be classified into three types; the estu-arine type, the bay and harbour type and open sea type. The distribution of the benthic community is related to the location of the island and its habitats of which, salinity and hydrodynamics are the major factors controlling the distribution of the communities.

Change in coral reef benthic communities in the Lembeh Strait and Likupang, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Anthropogenic impacts and natural disturbances have been intense recently in the global scale, affecting the composition of coral reef benthic communities from coral to algal dominated reefs. However, this condition does not always occur considering corals are able to recover when the stressors falter. This study aims to investigate the change in coral reef benthic communities and the relationship among benthic categories. The study was carried out in 2014 and 2016 at five sites, three sites in the Lembeh Strait and two sites in Likupang, North Sulawesi Province. Underwater Photo Transect(UPT) was used at depth of around 4–6 m in slope areas. The result indicated that the benthic communities were slightly changing: the percent covers of hard corals, sponges, soft corals, macroalgae and substrate categories were not significantly different between the years but category of others, particularly seasonally growing hydroid, increased significantly, occupying the available substrates and overtopping other benthos surrounding. The study also found that there was a significant relationship between the change in benthic gradient and the number of hard coral colonies: when the composition becomes less complex, the number of colony declines. In contrast, the hard coral diversity remained unchanged, suggesting the coral reefs apparently have an ecological resilience(sustainable species diversity) against the change although ecological complexity declines. In addition, the hard coral cover was significantly correlated with soft coral and sponge covers, which did not change significantly among the years. In general, the coral reefs in North Sulawesi might experience a temporary blip due to the increasing percent cover of others, and be predicted to recover as there was no indication of soft corals and sponges to increase significantly. However, it is necessary to investigate the dynamic of benthic communities in different depth gradients to gain a comprehensive understanding as the communities respond differently to the light intensity.

COMMUNITY ANALYSIS OF SHALLOW SEA BENTHOS IN GREAT WALL BAY, ANTARCTICA

The data used in this paper were acquired at 19 quantitative dredging stations and 4 trawling stations during the three crusies of the 4th Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition for investigating the shallow sea benthos in Great Wall Bay, in the period from December 1987 to March 1988.Based on environmental characteristics, diversity of species composition and the eveness of interspecific distribution of individuals, cluster methods were used to divide the investigated area into three benthic community distribution areas. The structures of the various communities were further divided into 3 structure types, namely, high diversity, intermediate diversity and low diversity types. From the study of the relationship between community structure and environmental factors it was pointed out that there was an extremely close relationship between benthic communities structure and the stability of the bottom types and sediments, whereas in sea areas where the depth gradient is not large, there is no obvious relationship between benthic communities structure and depth gradient.

Long-Term Persistence of Propeller and Anchor Damage to Seagrass Canopy and Demersal Biodiversity in Puerto Rico

Seagrass ecosystems support high biodiversity and productivity and constitute critical links to adjacent ecosystems. However, there is a growing concern that increasing recreational navigation may affect its ecological processes and functions, which may affect its recreational and tourism values, compromising local economies and livelihoods. The long-term impacts (1996-2011) of recreational navigation on seagrass benthic community structure were assessed by addressing the question of whether long-term effects of recreational navigation had a significant impact on seagrass community structure and on its benthic faunal assemblages. Findings evidenced: 1) a consistent spatio-temporal gradient in the ecological conditions of seagrasses across the scoured areas, with increased percent seagrass cover, density and canopy height, and seagrass benthic biodiversity with increasing distance from disturbed areas;2) a decline in percent seagrass cover, and an increased macroalgal and cyanobacterial percent cover through time around the disturbed areas;3) a significant shift in seagrass assemblage biodiversity as a response to boating that followed the intermediate disturbance hypothesis;4) an adverse effect on the spatial distribution and survival of multiple benthic invertebrate taxa;and 5) a significant decline in cnidarians, echinoids, ophiuroids, holothurians, and gastropods, and an increase in polychaetes, platyhelminths, and hermit crabs, particularly in areas exposed to boating. Spatio-temporal variation in seagrass community structure explained the observed variation in benthic faunal assemblages. The long-term consequences on ecosystem functions and management needs are discussed to foster the conservation of seagrasses.

Exergy as an ecological application used in the recovery process of benthic communities

Exergy,the thermodynamic function that represents the distance of an open system from equilibrium,is proposed as an ecological indicator for summarizing the complex dynamics occurring in a disturbed community during its recovery processes.These complex dynamics can be difficult to capture by using classical indices.In this study,we sampled macrobenthos using the BACI scheme(before versus after;control versus impact)in tidal wetlands of west Chongming Island,China,an area that has been disturbed by ecological engineering measures.Exergy storage is estimated for benthic communities.The control area is proposed as dynamic reference for estimating local exergy storage of the benthic community.Three different methods were used for estimating exergy on the basis of coefficients:(a)taken for taxa groups;(b)estimated from coding genes given for broad taxonomic groups;and(c)estimated from genome size taken as close as possible to the taxonomic level of the species,providing a basis for inferring similarities.We found a decrease of local exergy content in the disturbed area 9 days after the disturbance.Subsequently,the reference exergy of the benthic community increased(i.e.in the surrounding control area)in accordance with the proposed hypothesis regarding the dynamics of exergy storage during a system’s development.Estimates of local exergy arrived at using the three methods provided comparable results.Based on this,we then discuss the feasibility of using the more readily available genome size data for estimating exergy.This result may have important implications for broader application of this indicator to biological systems.Moreover,the adjacent control samples seem to represent an appropriate dynamic reference for estimating the local exergy of disturbed communities.We found that exergy was a useful indicator that integrates the processes underlying the recovery of the benthic community after disturbance.

Responses of benthic insect communities to effluent from the abandoned Ferris-Haggarty copper mine in southeast Wyoming,USA

Six criteria were used to evaluate 12 metrics for their sensitivity to effluent flowing from the Ferris-Haggarty copper mine into Haggarty Creek and then into Battle Creek West Fork.Through the evaluation process,we found that the Shannon-Wiener index,the random runs value,and Ephemeroptera taxa richness appeared to best reflect the impacts that have occurred in both Haggarty Creek and Battle Creek West Fork.In addition,Ephemeroptera/Plecoptera/Trichoptera taxa richness,total taxa richness,and Plecoptera taxa richness,were useful in reflecting those impacts.In contrast,we found that the abundance ratios,the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index,as well as Trichoptera taxa richness,did not reflect the impacts that occurred in Haggarty Creek and Battle Creek West Fork.Finally,this study provided information about the benthic insect communities that are present in the impacted reaches of Haggarty Creek.Such information is needed to assess the potential of those reaches as habitat for the Colorado River cutthroat trout,Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus,which is a species of special concern to the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish.

Spatial variations of macrozoobenthos and sediment nutrients in Lake Yangcheng: Emphasis on effect of pen culture of Chinese mitten crab

We determined the effect of Chinese mitten crab（CMC） pen culture on the quantified spatial distribution of the macrozoobenthic community and sediment nutrients in Lake Yangcheng.Redundancy analysis indicated that water temperature, macrophyte occurrence, sediment type, and crab culture were the main environmental factors that influence the spatiotemporal macrozoobenthic distribution. Macrozoobenthic assemblages in the lake were characterized by eutrophic indicator species. In the most polluted estuaries, the abundance and diversity indices of the whole community and abundance of chironomids and oligochaetes were significantly depressed, and sediment carbon（C） and phosphorus（P） were significantly enhanced compared with those in the western, middle（MB）, and eastern basin（EB）. Crab culture in this lake had significant effects on the species composition of the macrozoobenthic community in one of three CMC culture pens（CP）, and generally depressed the abundance of most chironomid and oligochaete species. Significantly increased diversity, evenness, sediment carbon and nitrogen content, and sediment C：P ratio in the CP were found compared with those in the three basins.However, no conspicuous difference in sediment P content between the CP and the two basins of MB and EB was detected. Our results showed that the enhanced diversity and evenness of macrozoobenthos might be associated with the joint effect of macrophyte planting and crab predation, and macrophyte planting may modify the effects of CMC culture by leading to disproportional accumulation of C and N in the sediment relative to P in the CP of the lake.