Relationship between mild seasonal oxygen deficiency and seasonal variations of macrozoobenthic community: A case study in the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent area, China

In the present study, environmental parameters and macrozoobenthos in the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent area, China, were investigated in summer and winter of 2015, and significant seasonal differences were found. Biodiversity was found to be lower in summer, which may result from the highe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2019-07, Vol.144, p.11-19
Main Authors: Yan, Jia, Sui, Jixing, Xu, Yong, Li, Xinzheng, Wang, Hongfa, Zhang, Baolin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic Organisms - drug effects
Aquatic Organisms - growth & development
Biodiversity
Biodiversity index
China
Community structure
Dissolved oxygen
Environmental factors
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Environmental parameter
Estuaries
Estuarine dynamics
Estuarine environments
Geologic Sediments - chemistry
Macrozoobenthos
Oxygen
Oxygen - analysis
Oxygen deficiency
Parameters
Phosphates
Predators
Rivers
Rivers - chemistry
Seasonal variation
Seasonal variations
Seasons
Species Specificity
Summer
Survival
Turbidity
Water depth
Yangtze River estuary
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Summary:In the present study, environmental parameters and macrozoobenthos in the Yangtze River estuary and its adjacent area, China, were investigated in summer and winter of 2015, and significant seasonal differences were found. Biodiversity was found to be lower in summer, which may result from the higher deposition rate. The relationship between the macrozoobenthic community and environmental parameters (especially dissolved oxygen) was revealed. Linear models describing the response of macrozoobenthic biodiversity indexes to mild oxygen deficiency were constructed. Mild seasonal oxygen deficiency was revealed significantly related to seasonal variations of the macrozoobenthic community, but this deficiency could not damage the community. In contrast, when mild oxygen deficiency occurred, natural predators of macrozoobenthos decreased, which may relieve the survival pressure of macrozoobenthos to some extent. Dissolved oxygen alone could not explain many variations of macrozoobenthos, and other environmental parameters, especially water depth, phosphate concentration and turbidity, also greatly contributed to those variations. •Mild oxygen deficiency influenced seasonal variations of macrozoobenthic community.•Mild oxygen deficiency may partly benefit macrozoobenthos due to fewer predators.•Crustacea was considered the most sensitive taxa to mild seasonal oxygen deficiency.•Dissolved oxygen was not the only contributor to the variations of macrozoobenthos.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.001