Benthic ecological quality assessment of the Bohai Sea, China using marine biotic indices.

The coastal ecological environments are heavily affected by anthropogenic activities as well as global climate change. Macrofauna can be used as good indicators for benthic ecological quality status due to its relatively slow movement ability under disturbance and a variety of assessment approaches have been established based on the characteristics of macrofauna. The benthic ecological quality of the Bohai Sea, China, is increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities. In order to accurately assess the benthic ecological quality status in this region, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, ABC curve, AMBI, M-AMBI and macrofaunal feeding evenness index were used. Results showed that the northern Laizhou Bay and Bohai Bay were under slight disturbance while Liaodong Bay, the central Bohai Sea and Bohai Strait were under moderate disturbance. Overall, the ecological quality indicated by the assessment results of AMBI, Shannon-Wiener diversity index and feeding evenness index were better than that by M-AMBI and the ABC curve.