Study On The Community Structure And Functional Diversity Of Fouling Organisms In The Coastal Waters Of The Western Taiwan Strait

Through annual panel tests on the seven sea areas in the western Taiwan Strait（Beiguan Port,Ningde,Pingtan,Fuqing,Putian,Quanzhou Bay,Dongshan Bay）,this article systematically discussed the attachment characteristics,the community structure and functional diversity of fouling organisms.The main findings were as follows:（1）268 species of attached organisms were recorded in the coastal waters of the western Taiwan Strait.The number of species in each coastal water ranged from 54 to94 species,mainly based on near-shore warm water species and wide-temperature species.Main dominant species were Amphibalanus reticulatus,Anthopleura nigrescens,Perna viridis,Caprella equilibra,Jassa falacata,Biflustra grandicella.The density of fouling organisms on the monthly,seasonal,semiannual and annual test panels in each sea area was 138 to 514300 ind/m²,500 to 245978 ind/m² and 5300 to161638 ind/m².The biomass of fouling organisms on the monthly,seasonal,semiannual and annual test panels was 25.8 to 25930.3 g/m²,72.1 to 22752.8 g/m²and 785.2 to 63462.5 g/m².The attachment strength of the fouling organisms in the seven sea areas belonged to Grade 2,but the attachment strength was slightly different.Beiguan Port（14313.8 g/m²）>Quanzhou Bay（13953.4 g/m²）>Ningde（12353.1g/m²）>Pingtan（9929.0 g/m²）>Dongshan Bay（9661.3 g/m²）>Putian（9514.8 g/m²）>Fuqing（8742.1 g/m²）.The average annual secondary productivity of the fouling organisms is 333.3 to 177.27.2 g·m^-2·a^-1,which was significantly higher in summer than in other seasons and lowest in winter.（2）There were two kinds of the types of community structure,namely 1)typical inner-bay community,represented by Beiguan Port,Ningde,Quanzhou Bay and Dongshan Bay.The type of the community was mainly composed of Amphibalanus reticulatus.namely 2)The inner-bay community was the main type,which had some types of high-salt community in the outer sea.It was represented by Pingtan,Fuqing and Putian.In addition,as the latitude decreased,the attachment period of the dominant species becomed longer and longer.The main reasons for the above differences were environmental factors such as temperature,salinity and water transparency.（3）The species diversity of fouling organisms in the coastal waters was high in all seasons,with the highest in spring,and the functional diversity is higher in spring and autumn,lower in summer and winter,but functional redundancy in spring and autumn was lower.Stability of community in spring and autumn was lower than that in summer.On the whole,the functional redundancy of fouling organisms in the coastal waters was low,the community was fragile,the stability was insufficient.The ability to respond to it was so insufficient that the community was vulnerable to be damaged,in the face of human disturbance and environmental changes.（4）Suspended feeder was the main part of fouling organisms in the coastal waters,inclouding Perna viridis,and the filter-feeding organisms had great advantages in marine carbon sequestration,especially mollusca.The rate of carbon fixation was very high.The type of attached life was the main part of fouling organisms in the coastal waters inclouding barnacles and oysters.Their attachment changed the surface composition and spatial structure of the attachment.The increase of spatial heterogeneity contributed to more niches.This was conducive to raising the level of biodiversity.In addition,these organisms were also the main part of the construction of artificial reef.The above results clarified the spatial and temporal distribution pattern and the community structure of fouling organisms,and understanded the functional characteristics and diversity characteristics of fouling organisms.This article provided basic data to further study explore the ecological functions and service values of fouling organisms.