Qingdao Key Laboratory of Coastal Ecological Restoration and Security, Marine Science Research Institute of Shandong Province (National Oceanographic Center, Qingdao), Qingdao, 266104, China.
College of Fisheries, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China; Field Observation and Research Station of Haizhou Bay Fishery Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266003, China.
Mar Environ Res. 2023 Jul;189:106060. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106060. Epub 2023 Jun 15.
Zooplankton community is ecological important because of its high sensitivity to environmental changes especially in estuarine areas. The Yellow River estuary (YRE) in China is the fifth biggest estuary in the world with significant seasonal characteristics and anthropogenic influence of Water-Sediment Regulation (WSR). This study investigated the spatio-temporal patterns of zooplankton in the YRE to explore the response of zooplankton to seasonal variation and WSR. Results suggested that the temporal patterns of zooplankton were mainly characterized by seasonal shift of dominant species. Hierarchical cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling determined summer, summer-autumn and winter-spring three zooplankton assemblages. Zooplankton spatial distributions represented seasonal consistency, in which the abundance generally showed a decreasing gradient from the river mouth to sea. WSR caused a high species replacement rate in July-August (80.36%) and a dramatic abundance decline from 4224.60 ind./m to 1541.10 ind./m with persistency and hysteresis effect. The high zooplankton abundance moved seaward in spatial distribution after WSR. Summer spatial pattern was determined with two and three zooplankton station assemblages, which was more clear after WSR. Redundancy analysis identified SSS, SST and transparency as important factors structuring zooplankton spatio-temporal patterns, in which SSS was the key one. The results provide a necessary reference for understanding the response of zooplankton community in estuarine areas to spontaneous changes and anthropogenic factors, and can help the protection of estuarine ecosystems and the formulation of hydrological regulatory policies.
浮游动物群落因其对环境变化的高度敏感性而具有重要的生态意义，特别是在河口地区。中国黄河口（YRE）是世界第五大河口，具有显著的季节性特征和水沙调节（WSR）的人为影响。本研究调查了黄河口浮游动物的时空格局，以探讨浮游动物对季节性变化和 WSR 的响应。结果表明，浮游动物的时间格局主要以优势种的季节性转移为特征。层次聚类分析和非度量多维标度确定了夏季、夏秋季和冬春季三个浮游动物组合。浮游动物的空间分布表现出季节性一致性，其丰度通常从河口向海呈现逐渐降低的梯度。WSR 在 7 月至 8 月导致了高物种替代率（80.36%），并使丰度从 4224.60 个/立方米急剧下降到 1541.10 个/立方米，具有持久性和滞后效应。高浮游动物丰度在 WSR 后向空间分布向海移动。夏季空间格局由两个和三个浮游动物站位组合决定，WSR 后更加明显。冗余分析确定盐度、温度和透明度是浮游动物时空格局的重要结构因素，其中盐度是关键因素。研究结果为了解浮游动物群落对河口地区自然变化和人为因素的响应提供了必要的参考，并有助于保护河口生态系统和制定水文学调节政策。
