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Functional diversity and groups of crustacean zooplankton in the southern Yellow Sea

Authors :
Yixuan Li
Ruping Ge
Hongju Chen
Yunyun Zhuang
Guangxing Liu
Zeqi Zheng
Source :
Ecological Indicators, Vol 136, Iss , Pp 108699- (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Elsevier, 2022.

Abstract

Functional trait and functional diversity indices reflect the variations of community structure and indicate their responses to environmental stress. In this study, based on four functional traits, including body length, feeding type, trophic group, and reproductive mode, the functional diversity and functional groups of crustacean zooplankton from the southern Yellow Sea (SYS) were explored over four seasons of 2019. A total of 53 species were identified and categorized into six functional groups. Copepods with ambush-feeding and omnivore–carnivore diet (Group Ⅱ) were dominant in spring (55.6%), while omnivore–herbivore copepods (Group Ⅰ) were the most abundant group in the other three seasons (>54.7%). The comparable distributions of functional diversity indices in different seasons were most likely due to hydrological variations. The Changjiang River Diluted Water promoted the coexistence of multiple traits carried by different functional groups (high functional richness (FRic) and functional dispersion (FDis)), but the stability of ecosystem function in this water mass was vulnerable to the loss of individual species (low functional evenness (FEve)) in summer. In winter, as a result of the Yellow Sea Warm Current, warm-water taxa increased FRic and FEve, suggesting that the community could buffer environmental fluctuations more effectively. Moreover, distribution of FRic values indicates the possible range and influence intensity of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1470160X
Volume :
136
Issue :
108699-
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Ecological Indicators
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.4b08ee26622a4c4980fe5f259d5eea43
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108699