title: Application of macrobenthic diversity to estimate ecological health of artificial oyster reef in Yangtze Estuary, China.
abstract: In this study, several macrobenthic diversity investigations were performed in Yangtze Estuary Oyster Reef, the largest artificial oyster reef in China, from 2012 to 2014. The sampling sites of the south branch showed considerably higher diversity than those of the north branch. The richness measures exhibited a significant increasing trend from low- to high-salinity zone; however, the evenness measures were typically high in the middle-salinity zone. During the past decade, the results were combined with historical data to detect the changes in macrobenthos. The variation in substrate organisms and macrobenthic diversity followed a steady trend after a major fluctuation. Redundancy analysis indicated that the water salinity and substrate factors were the main indicators that influence macrobenthic distribution. All sampling sites in the south branch were protected by a nature reserve. However, the N2 and N6 sites in the north branch were subjected to severe and mild human interventions, respectively.
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: Youhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China.
authors.forename: Zhiquan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
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: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China. Electronic address: ylzhao904426@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D063366:Estuaries; D010125:Ostreidae; D011156:Population Density; D054712:Salinity; D001468:Thoracica; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: Artificial oyster reef; Ecological health; Macrobenthic diversity; Yangtze Estuary