Assessing benthic habitat quality using biotic indices in the Laizhou Bay, China

As an important part of the Bohai economic rim,the Laizhou Bay has been stressed by serious eco-environmental problems in recent years.In this study,the Shannon-Wiener index(H′),AZTI’s marine biotic index(AMBI)and the multivariate AMBI(M-AMBI)were used to assess the ecological quality status(EQS)of the Laizhou Bay according to macrobenthos data collected annually in August 2011–2014.The results showed that the overall benthic habitat quality in the Laizhou Bay was assessed as“Good”.However,25%of the samples were classified as“Moderate”,“Bad”or“Poor”status under degraded conditions.Ecological group III(EGIII)species which had a certain tolerance to environmental disturbances had a higher proportion in each station,and most of them had appeared the pollution indicator species Capitella capitata.This indicated that the benthic habitat in the Laizhou Bay had been disturbed and polluted to some extent.The comparison of the three indices evaluation result and the RDA analysis showed that the H′and M-AMBI were more suitable when the relative abundance of the single species was high and the macrobenthic community was significantly imbalanced;when the relative abundance of opportunistic species(EGIV and EGV)was high,the AMBI and M-AMBI could reflected the EQS objectively;in an undisturbed and polluted environment,all the three indices could indicate the benthic habitats quality.In summary,the better correlation between the three indices and environmental factors showed that they were well responsive to the tendency of the benthic habitats quality in the Laizhou Bay.

Subtropical sea surface salinity maxima in the South Indian Ocean

Subtropical sea surface salinity(SSS)maximum is formed in the subtropical South Indian Ocean(SIO)by excessive evaporation over precipitation and serves as the primary salt source of the SIO.Spaceborne SSS measurements by Aquarius satellite during September 2011-May 2015 detect three disconnected SSS maximum regions(>35.6)in the eastern(105°E-115°E,38°S-28°S),central(60°E-100°E,35°S-25°S),and western(25°E-40°E,38°S-20°S)parts of the subtropical SIO,respectively.Such structure is however not seen in gridded Argo data.Analysis of Argo profile data confirms the existence of the eastern maximum patch and also reveals SSS overestimations of Aquarius near the western and eastern boundaries.Although subjected to large uncertainties,a mixed-layer budget analysis is employed to explain the seasonal cycle of SSS.The eastern and central regions reach the highest salinity in February-March and lowest salinity in August-September,which can be well explained by surface freshwater forcing(SFF)term.SFF is however not controlled by evaporation(E)or precipitation(P).Instead,the large seasonal undulations of mixed layer depth(MLD)is the key factor.The shallow(deep)MLD in austral summer(winter)amplifies(attenuates)the forcing effect of local positive E-P and causes SSS rising(decreasing).Ocean dynamics also play a role.Particularly,activity of mesoscale eddies is a critical factor regulating SSS variability in the eastern and western regions.