title: Application of macrobenthos functional groups to estimate the ecosystem health in a semi-enclosed bay.
abstract: In this study, the functional group concept was first applied to evaluate the ecosystem health of Bohai Bay. Macrobenthos functional groups were defined according to feeding types and divided into five groups: a carnivorous group (CA), omnivorous group (OM), planktivorous group (PL), herbivorous group (HE), and detritivorous group (DE). Groups CA, DE, OM, and PL were identified, but the HE group was absent from Bohai Bay. Group DE was dominant during the study periods. The ecosystem health was assessed using a functional group evenness index. The functional group evenness values of most sampling stations were less than 0.40, indicating that the ecosystem health was deteriorated in Bohai Bay. Such deterioration could be attributed to land reclamation, industrial and sewage effluents, oil pollution, and hypersaline water discharge. This study demonstrates that the functional group concept can be applied to ecosystem health assessment in a semi-enclosed bay.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Environmental Protection in Water Transport Engineering, Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, Tianjin 300456, China; First Institute of Oceanography, SOA, Qingdao 266061, China.
authors.forename: Shitao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xuebo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Honghua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Dewen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development; D061006:Bays / Q000737:chemistry*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Assessment; Ecosystem health; Macrobenthos functional group; Semi-enclosed bay