Responses of biological traits of macrobenthic fauna to a eutrophication gradient in a semi-enclosed bay, China

Yifeng Shi; Yixuan He; Paul K S Shin; Yu Guo; Guodong Zhang; Yujian Wen; Guicheng Zhang; Wenzhe Xu; Jun Sun

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106072

Responses of biological traits of macrobenthic fauna to a eutrophication gradient in a semi-enclosed bay, China

Mar Environ Res. 2023 Jul:189:106072. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106072. Epub 2023 Jun 25.

Authors

Yifeng Shi¹, Yixuan He¹, Paul K S Shin², Yu Guo¹, Guodong Zhang¹, Yujian Wen¹, Guicheng Zhang¹, Wenzhe Xu³, Jun Sun⁴

Affiliations

¹ Research Centre for Indian Ocean Ecosystem, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
² Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
³ Research Centre for Indian Ocean Ecosystem, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China. Electronic address: xuwenzhe@tust.edu.cn.
⁴ Research Centre for Indian Ocean Ecosystem, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, 430074, China; College of Marine Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, 430074, China; Institute for Advanced Marine Research, China University of Geosciences, Guangzhou, 511462, China. Electronic address: phytoplankton@163.com.

PMID: 37385085
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106072

Abstract

The impacts of eutrophication on benthic ecological functions are of increasing concern in recent years. In order to assess the response of macrobenthic fauna to increasing eutrophication, two field sampling surveys were conducted during the summer (July-August 2020) and autumn (October-November 2020) from offshore, nearshore to estuarine sediments in Bohai Bay, northern China. Biological trait analysis was employed for the assessment of macrofaunal samples. The results indicated that there was an increase in the proportion of benthic burrowering or tube-dwelling sediment feeders and taxa with higher larval dispersal ability, but a decrease in the proportion of taxa showing high motility in areas with higher nutrient levels. Seasonal differences were also noted in the shift in biological traits, with a significantly lower similarity among the sampling areas in summer and a higher proportion of carnivorous taxa in autumn. The findings suggested that long-term disturbance can lead to the dominance of smaller body-sized benthic species and reduced sediment quality, impeding ecological recovery of benthic organisms under such harsh environment.

Keywords: Anthropogenic disturbances; Benthic ecosystem; Biological trait analysis; Bohai Bay; Ecological function; Macrofauna.

MeSH terms

Bays*
China
Ecosystem*
Environmental Monitoring
Eutrophication
Geologic Sediments / analysis