Health assessment for benthic habitats of macroben-thos in the sea area adjacent to the Xiaoqing River estuary, Laizhou Bay

摘要

The species composition, dominant species, abundance, biomass and community structure were investigated in the Xiaoqing River estuary of Laizhou Bay in July, August and September 2019. The benthic habitat health status was analyzed and assessed by abundance/biomass curves, AZTL s Marine Biotic Index ( AMBI), and Multivariate-AZTL s Marine Biotic Index ( M-AMBI ). A total of 64 macrobenthic species were recorded, including 24 Polychaeta, 19 Crustaceans, 17 Mollusks, and 4 species belonging to other benthic groups. There were seven dominant species including Potamocorbula laevis, Moerella irid-escens, Nassarius semiplicatus, Mactra veneriformis, Nephthys oligobranchia, Mediomastus californiensis, Ogyrides orientals, Philyra acutidens, and Ampelisca brevicornis, with the obvious dominance in Moerella iridescens and Nephthys oligobranchia. The cluster analysis of community structure and multidimensional scale analysis revealed that macrobenthos communities in the study area in July were divided into 3 groups with 10% similarity, 4 groups with 18% similarity in August, and 3 groups with 19% similarity in September, with lower community structure similarity in three surveys. Abundance/biomass curves indicated that the biomass dominance of benthic community was significant and the macrobenthic community was undisturbed. The AMBI and M-AMBI Index analysis showed that the benthic habitats tended to be no disturbed or slightly disturbed and the ecological status tended to high or good.