title: Macrobenthic diversity in protected, disturbed, and newly formed intertidal wetlands of a subtropical estuary in China.
abstract: In this study, intertidal macrobenthic diversity in protected, disturbed, and newly formed wetlands of Yangtze estuary was assessed using PRIMER 5.2 based on species diversity and species relatedness. We observed high diversity in nature reserves and low diversity in adjacent disturbed and newly formed wetlands. These diversity data were then integrated with historical data to detect the variation in macrobenthic diversity over the past two decades. The integrated data indicated that the intertidal macrobenthic diversity sharply decreased in heavy reclamation tidal flats whereas markedly increased in non-disturbed nature reserve and newly formed wetland. Benthic health was observed with the departure degree of average taxonomic distinctness (Δ(+)) and variation in taxonomic distinctness (Λ(+)) from the simulated 95% confidence funnel. All the habitats were subjected to different levels of human interference, except Jiuduansha and Beigangbeisha. The degradation of intertidal wetland in Yangtze estuary was mainly attributed to land reclamation, overgrazing, and overfishing.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Chang-An
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Youhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Mingqing
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China. Electronic address: ylzhao904426@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D063366:Estuaries; D045483:Rivers; D053833:Wetlands
keywords: Disturbed wetland; Intertidal zone; Macrobenthic diversity; Newly formed wetland; Protected wetland; Yangtze estuary