Typical Waters Of The South Yellow Sea Benthic Fauna Size Spectra

The ecological study was conducted in Southern Yellow Sea and Jiaozhou Bay in 2002. The abundance, the biomass and production were investigated by quantitative study. Sheldon size spectra and biomass spectra of zoobenthos were constructed.The mean abundance, biomass and production of meiofauna were 0.82xl0⁶ ind·m^-2, 0.62xl0⁶g dwt-m^-2 and 5.56xl0⁶ g dwt·m^-2·a^-1 in the Southern Yellow Sea, respectively. The mean abundance, biomass and production of meiofauna were 1.40x10⁶ ind·m^-2, 1.05x10⁶g dwt·m^-2 and 9.45x10⁶ g dwt·m^-2·a^-1 at B2 station in four cruises in Jiaozhou Bay in 2002, respectively. Relationship between numbers and biomass of meiofauna, nematode and copepods and environmental variables were analyzed by using Pearson correlation. There were significant correlation between Md and abundance of nematode (p<0.05) and weak negative correlation among water depth and numbers of meiofauna, nematode and copepods(p>0.05).Biomass spectra, the biomass distribution over a sequence of the body size intervals, provide dynamic information about the relationships among components in ecosystem. Sheldon size spectra and biomass size spectra were constructed for 1-3, 1-5 and 1-7 stations in Southern Yellow Sea and for B2 station in Jiaozhou Bay. The basic size composition of communities were revealed by these spectra. These spectra among stations and these 2 ecosystems showed minus difference caused of water depth or seasonal change. From the study of Sheldon spectra and biomass spectra, it can be concluded that biomass increases with body size with a trough at 500um Equivalent Spherical Diameter (ESD). Compared with Sheldon spectra, biomass size spectra manifested more powerful and stable mode. Normalized biomass spectra were constructed to compare the productivity of different ecosystems. Because the slopes of all stations were shallower than -1, it implied that biomass increased with size over all size spectra. In Comparison with stations in the Southern Yellow Sea, the intercepts and BMSs(biomass in the smallest size classes) of Normalized biomass spectra at B2 station in four cruises in Jiaozhou Bay were greater and meant higher productivity.