Abstract
Meiofauna are fundamental components in mangrove ecosystem which play important roles in the energy flow and matter cycling. In order to reveal the spatio-temporal distribution of meiofaunal assemblages in mangrove habitats, sediment samples were collected in July (summer) and October (autumn) of 2013, January (winter) and April (spring) of 2014 in the mangrove tidal flat of Futian, Shenzhen, China. A total of 14 meiofaunal taxa were identified, including free-living marine nematodes, benthic copepods, polychaetes, oligochaetes, ostracods, isopods, etc. Additionally, there were also undetermined taxa. Results showed that the abundance range of meiofauna was (488.35±71.29)–(5136.36±623.38)ind(10 cm)−2. Marine nematodes were the most dominant group, with an average abundance of (1869.56±227.92)ind(10 cm)−2, accounting for 98.35% of the total abundance of meiofauna. The seasonal distribution of meiofauna showed that the abundance was the highest in summer, followed by those in spring, winter, and autumn. Vertical distribution showed that meiofauna were mainly distributed in the upper sediment layer (0–5 cm), with a proportion of 89.56%. Correlation analysis between meiofauna and environmental factors showed that meiofaunal abundance and biomass had significantly negative correlation with salinity. BIOENV analysis between meiofaunal assemblages and environmental factors showed that meiofaunal assemblages were affected by the combined effects of temperature, salinity, sediment median grain size, water content, and chlorophyll a content.
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Acknowledgements
This study was jointly supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. 201964 024 and 201362018) and the Biodiversity Investigation, Observation and Assessment Program (2019-2023) of Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China. We appreciate Dr. Qinghe Liu and Mr. Deming Huang for their help in the field sampling. We are also very grateful to Dr. Zihao Yuan, Mr. Shan Cai and Ms. Xiaomeng Liu for their help in the laboratory analysis.
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Song, Y., Yan, C., Gao, C. et al. Seasonal Distribution of Meiofaunal Assemblages in the Mangrove Tidal Flat of Futian, Shenzhen, China. J. Ocean Univ. China 21, 955–964 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-022-4869-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-022-4869-6