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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

ISSN 2095-2201

ISSN 2095-221X(Online)

CN 10-1013/X

Postal Subscription Code 80-973

2018 Impact Factor: 3.883

Front.Environ.Sci.Eng.    2014, Vol. 8 Issue (5) : 737-746    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-013-0617-x
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Evaluation of the ecological status with benthic indices in the coastal system: the case of Bohai Bay (China)
Wenqian CAI1,2,*(),Wei MENG1,2,Lusan LIU1,2,Kuixuan LIN1,2,*()
1. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Estuary and Coastal Environment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
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Abstract

Based on biologic and environmental materials collected from coastal areas of Bohai Bay (China) in April, 2008, three biotic indices (AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index (AMBI), Shannon–Wiener Index and W-statistic) were applied together to evaluate the ecological status of the sampling area. The results showed a clear spatial gradient from a worse ecological status in the near-shore areas (especially around Haihe and Jiyun River Estuaries) to a better status in the offshore areas. While all the three indices could assist decision makers in visualizing spatial changes of organic pollutants in Bohai Bay, two indices, i.e., AMBI and Shannon-Wiener index, were effective in distinguishing sites from Haihe River Estuary, Jiyun River Estuary and other area. However, W-statistic can’t tell the differences between estuaries and other area. It would be explained that organic pollutants and/or other environmental stresses in Bohai Bay were not strong enough to reduce the size of macrozoobenthos, which may cause both of the abundance and biomass curves crossed. To our knowledge, this is the first time that several benthic indices were used to assess the benthic ecological status in Bohai Bay, which gave the similar results. Furthermore, there is indication that the ecological status is related to excess input of wastewater along main rivers and outlets. In a word, AMBI, Shannon–Wiener Index and W-statistic could be able to assess the benthic ecological status of Bohai Bay under the organic pollutants pressure.

Keywords AZTI’s Marine Biotic Index      Shannon-Wiener Index      W-statistic      ecological status      coastal system      Bohai Bay (China)     
Corresponding Author(s): Wenqian CAI   
Issue Date: 20 June 2014
 Cite this article:   
Wenqian CAI,Wei MENG,Lusan LIU, et al. Evaluation of the ecological status with benthic indices in the coastal system: the case of Bohai Bay (China)[J]. Front.Environ.Sci.Eng., 2014, 8(5): 737-746.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-013-0617-x
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2014/V8/I5/737
Fig.1  Sampling sites in the coastal system of Bohai Bay
stationsEGI/%EGII/%EGIII/%EGIV/%EGV/%AMBIShannonW-statistic
153.0320.4522.733.791.163.560.15
213.8970.835.569.721.673.500.30
333.3329.6329.637.411.673.500.53
54.115.4824.6665.755.281.520.18
635.7128.5732.143.571.553.770.65
710.3458.6217.2413.792.023.590.49
8100.001.5000
925.0050.0025.001.502.000.80
1045.1629.0325.811.212.770.28
1175.0018.756.250.562.020.16
1221.4342.8628.577.141.824.100.61
1339.6624.1431.035.171.533.380.25
1462.8224.3611.541.280.772.990.25
1546.1526.9211.5415.381.443.250.34
1643.1829.5525.002.271.303.660.35
1751.2219.5124.394.881.243.190.27
1851.7231.033.453.4510.341.342.430.29
1928.8944.4422.224.441.533.590.36
2049.0626.4215.099.431.272.920.30
2138.8933.3322.225.561.423.400.44
2260.4720.9311.636.980.983.340.46
Tab.1  AMBI, Shannon-Wiener Index, W-statistic values and relative abundances (inds·m-2) of the five ecological groups (EGI to EGV) for each site in the coastal system of Bohai Bay
stationsite pollution classification (Shannon-Wiener)site pollution classification (AMBI)site pollution classification (W-statistic)
1unpollutedunpollutedmoderately polluted
2slightly pollutedslightly pollutedmoderately polluted
3unpollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
5moderately pollutedheavily pollutedunpolluted
6unpollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
7unpollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
8heavily pollutedslightly pollutedmoderately polluted
9slightly pollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
10slightly pollutedslightly pollutedtend to Moderately polluted
11slightly pollutedunpollutedmoderately polluted
12unpollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
13unpollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
14slightly pollutedunpollutedmoderately polluted
15slightly pollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
16unpollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
17slightly pollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
18slightly pollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
19unpollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
20slightly pollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
21slightly pollutedslightly pollutedunpolluted
22unpollutedunpollutedunpolluted
Tab.2  Assessment results of all benthic indices for each site in the coastal system of Bohai Bay
Fig.2  Spatial distributions of AMBI, Shannon-Wiener Index and W-statistic in the coastal system of Bohai Bay
indicesareasnmeanFP
Shannon-Wiener IndexHaihe River Estuary22.9608.2010.003
Jiyun River Estuary31
other area31
AMBIHaihe River Estuary22.9506.207
Jiyun River Estuary31.307
other area161.500
W-statisticHaihe River Estuary20.4400.4450.648
Jiyun River Estuary30.400
other area160.334
Tab.3  One-way ANOVA results of benthic indices considering the sampling sites located in Haihe River Estuary, Jiyun River Estuary and other area
Fig.3  Spatial distributions of organic pollutants in the coastal system of Bohai Bay
Fig.4  Multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) analysis performed on organic pollutants in sediments in 2008 (2D stress: 0.31): (a) HCB (ng·g-1); (b)∑OCPs (ng·g-1); (c) o,p’-DDT (ng·g-1); and (d) ∑PAHs (ng·g-1). Key: HCB: Hexacholorobenzene; DDT: DichlorophenylTrichloroethane; OCPs: Organochlorine Pesticides; PAHs: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
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