School of Earth and Environmental Sciences & Research Institute of Oceanography, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
Department of Marine Biotechnology, Anyang University, Ganghwagun, Incheon 23038, Republic of Korea.
Environ Int. 2020 Jan;134:105200. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105200. Epub 2019 Nov 5.
The present study investigated the spatiotemporal distributions of meiofauna and corresponding environmental variables in two different subtidal environments. The two habitats represent unique geographical localities; (1) Jinhae Bay for semi-enclosed industrial bay (under anthropogenic pressure) and (2) Samcheok coast for open sea area (rather in natural condition) in Korea. Biotic and abiotic data were seasonally collected from six monitoring stations in each area for 3 years (2013-16) at two study areas and all the data were comparatively analyzed. First, abiotic data such as sediment properties and water quality parameters showed significant variations in time (season/year) and space (site/area) cross the study areas and within sites in each area. Second, meiofauna assemblages, such as number of taxa, abundance, and composition, greatly varied between seasons and localities, reflecting (in)direct association(s) to local activities and/or environmental gradients. Of note, the Jinhae Bay community was directly influenced by a hypoxia during summer season. In general, the site-specific variations rather prevailed masking seasonal fluctuations, indicating significance of both oceanographic settings and terrestrial land use activities. Among the environmental parameters measured, sediment grain size appeared to be the key factor in determining the meiofaunal assemblages and distributions, particularly under natural condition shown at Samcheok. Altogether, clear separations in meiofaunal community cross sites (inner vs. outer stations) and areas (enclosed industrial bay vs. open sea) implied anthropogenic pressures and certain impacted boundaries. In addition, association of benthic communities to anthropogenic environments seemed to prevail in macrofaunal community, being simultaneously influenced by abiotic seasonal fluctuations. Overall, two contrasting nearshore habitats exhibited typical spatiotemporal distributions of subtidal benthic communities being collectively influenced by anthropogenic stresses and site-specific environmental gradients.
本研究调查了两种不同潮间带环境中后生动物的时空分布及其相应的环境变量。这两个生境代表了独特的地理位置；（1）金海湾为半封闭工业湾（受人为压力影响）和（2）束草海岸为开阔海域（自然条件），均位于韩国。在两个研究区域的六个监测站中，每年分季节采集生物和非生物数据，为期三年（2013-2016 年），并对所有数据进行了比较分析。首先，非生物数据，如沉积物特性和水质参数，在时间（季节/年）和空间（地点/区域）上均表现出明显的变化，跨越了研究区域和每个区域内的各个地点。其次，后生动物组合，如分类单元数量、丰度和组成，在季节和地点之间有很大差异，反映了与当地活动和/或环境梯度的直接关联。值得注意的是，金海湾群落直接受到夏季缺氧的影响。一般来说，特定地点的变化掩盖了季节性波动，表明海洋学背景和陆地使用活动的重要性。在所测量的环境参数中，沉积物粒径似乎是决定后生动物组合和分布的关键因素，特别是在束草自然条件下。总的来说，站点之间（内站和外站）和区域之间（封闭工业湾和开阔海域）后生动物群落的明显分离暗示了人为压力和某些受影响的边界。此外，底栖群落与人为环境的关联似乎在大型动物群落中更为普遍，同时也受到非生物季节性波动的影响。总的来说，两种截然不同的近岸生境表现出典型的潮间带底栖群落的时空分布，这些分布受到人为压力和特定地点环境梯度的共同影响。
