The protection of the biological diversity and the maintenance of the regional ecological integrity for the Huanghe （Yellow River） Estuary and its adjacent areas are practically significant and valuable. However, fr...The protection of the biological diversity and the maintenance of the regional ecological integrity for the Huanghe （Yellow River） Estuary and its adjacent areas are practically significant and valuable. However, frequent human activities and natural climate changes have caused vigorous disturbances on the ecosystem in these sea areas. An objective assessment on the benthic habitat quality （BHQ） of the Huanghe Estuary and its adjacent areas is conducted, using AZTI＇s Marine Biotic Index （AMBI） and multivariate AMBI （M-AMBI） based on the data of macrobenthos in May and August 2011. The results show that both the indices do not correlate significantly, and their assessment results are greatly different. All of the samples assessed using the AMBI were ＂high＂ or ＂good＂, because the ecological group I （EGI） and the ecological group II （EGII） were dominant macrobenthic ecological groups in the research area. Owing to a low species＇ richness and a high individual abundance in some samples, the BHQ levels using the M-AMBI were worse than those of the AMBI. Significant correlations are observed between the M-AMBI, water depth, bottom water salinity and dissolved inorganic nitrogen, thus the M-AMBI could sensitively respond to environmental changes and distinguish influences from uninfluenced stations, but the AMBI could not. The consistent results between the AMBI and the M-AMBI mainly appeared in the uninfluenced （undisturbed or slightly disturbed） sta- tions. Therefore, the M-AMBI is more effective than the AMBI in assessing the benthic habitat quality in the Huanghe Estuary and its adjacent areas. Using the M-AMBI to assess the BHQ of the Huanghe Estuary and its adjacent areas, the results show that 3% of the stations are undisturbed and the BHQs are ＂high＂, and 61% of the stations are slightly disturbed and those of the BHQ are ＂good＂, and the rest are meanly disturbed and those of the BHQ are ＂moderate＂.展开更多
From a dataset of macrobenthos obtained from 18 cruises from 2004 to 2013 in the Huanghe（Yellow River）Estuary and its adjacent areas,the composition and characteristics of macrobenthos were analyzed,and the applicab...From a dataset of macrobenthos obtained from 18 cruises from 2004 to 2013 in the Huanghe（Yellow River）Estuary and its adjacent areas,the composition and characteristics of macrobenthos were analyzed,and the applicability of the Shannon-Wiener Index（H′）,AZTI＇s Marine Biotic Index（AMBI） and multivariate AMBI（MAMBI） for assessing benthic habitat quality was compared.The results showed a total of 203 macrobenthos in the study area.The macrobenthos were dominated by polychaetes,followed by mollusks and crustaceans.The macrobenthic ecological groups were dominated by EGI,EGII and EGIII,which respectively accounted for 31.5%,36.0% and 21.2% of the total.There were significant differences between the evaluation results of the three indices.The ecological quality status（EQS） levels given by the AMBI were greater than those given by the H′ and M-AMBI.The AMBI could not reflect the differences between 11 sites but the H′ and M-AMBI could do.Moreover,the three indices responded well to the variations in salinity（S） and dissolved oxygen（DO） in the waters.The H′ and MAMBI also responded sensitively to the differences in physical parameters,such as water depth and sediment texture.The correlation between M-AMBI and environmental pressure gradient data was the strongest.The MAMBI could effectively distinguish degraded conditions from undegraded but the H′ and AMBI could not.Therefore,the M-AMBI reflected benthic habitat health well in the study areas.However,the objectivity of evaluation results of M-AMBI needs further verification by physical,chemical and biological methods.The thresholds also need further discussion.展开更多
基金The Ocean Public Welfare Scientific Research Project of China under contract Nos 201105005 and 201005009the Environmental Assessment Projects of State Oceanic Administration People’s Republic of China under contract No.DOMEP(MEA)-01-01
文摘The protection of the biological diversity and the maintenance of the regional ecological integrity for the Huanghe （Yellow River） Estuary and its adjacent areas are practically significant and valuable. However, frequent human activities and natural climate changes have caused vigorous disturbances on the ecosystem in these sea areas. An objective assessment on the benthic habitat quality （BHQ） of the Huanghe Estuary and its adjacent areas is conducted, using AZTI＇s Marine Biotic Index （AMBI） and multivariate AMBI （M-AMBI） based on the data of macrobenthos in May and August 2011. The results show that both the indices do not correlate significantly, and their assessment results are greatly different. All of the samples assessed using the AMBI were ＂high＂ or ＂good＂, because the ecological group I （EGI） and the ecological group II （EGII） were dominant macrobenthic ecological groups in the research area. Owing to a low species＇ richness and a high individual abundance in some samples, the BHQ levels using the M-AMBI were worse than those of the AMBI. Significant correlations are observed between the M-AMBI, water depth, bottom water salinity and dissolved inorganic nitrogen, thus the M-AMBI could sensitively respond to environmental changes and distinguish influences from uninfluenced stations, but the AMBI could not. The consistent results between the AMBI and the M-AMBI mainly appeared in the uninfluenced （undisturbed or slightly disturbed） sta- tions. Therefore, the M-AMBI is more effective than the AMBI in assessing the benthic habitat quality in the Huanghe Estuary and its adjacent areas. Using the M-AMBI to assess the BHQ of the Huanghe Estuary and its adjacent areas, the results show that 3% of the stations are undisturbed and the BHQs are ＂high＂, and 61% of the stations are slightly disturbed and those of the BHQ are ＂good＂, and the rest are meanly disturbed and those of the BHQ are ＂moderate＂.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers under contract No.U1406403the National Marine Public Welfare Research Project of China under contract No.201405007the Environmental Assessment Projects of State Oceanic Administration People's Republic of China under contract No.DOMEP(MEA)-01-01
文摘From a dataset of macrobenthos obtained from 18 cruises from 2004 to 2013 in the Huanghe（Yellow River）Estuary and its adjacent areas,the composition and characteristics of macrobenthos were analyzed,and the applicability of the Shannon-Wiener Index（H′）,AZTI＇s Marine Biotic Index（AMBI） and multivariate AMBI（MAMBI） for assessing benthic habitat quality was compared.The results showed a total of 203 macrobenthos in the study area.The macrobenthos were dominated by polychaetes,followed by mollusks and crustaceans.The macrobenthic ecological groups were dominated by EGI,EGII and EGIII,which respectively accounted for 31.5%,36.0% and 21.2% of the total.There were significant differences between the evaluation results of the three indices.The ecological quality status（EQS） levels given by the AMBI were greater than those given by the H′ and M-AMBI.The AMBI could not reflect the differences between 11 sites but the H′ and M-AMBI could do.Moreover,the three indices responded well to the variations in salinity（S） and dissolved oxygen（DO） in the waters.The H′ and MAMBI also responded sensitively to the differences in physical parameters,such as water depth and sediment texture.The correlation between M-AMBI and environmental pressure gradient data was the strongest.The MAMBI could effectively distinguish degraded conditions from undegraded but the H′ and AMBI could not.Therefore,the M-AMBI reflected benthic habitat health well in the study areas.However,the objectivity of evaluation results of M-AMBI needs further verification by physical,chemical and biological methods.The thresholds also need further discussion.
