Benthic Resources of the Gwangyang Bay, Korea

초록

Gwangyang Bay, located at the southern part of Korean peninsula, is affected by freshwater discharge with large nutrient inputs from the nearby Seomjin River. Here, a belt transect study on the spatial structure of the benthic macrofaunal community was carried out, in August 2001, from the intertidal to subtidal area including inbetween Zostera bed in order to determinate how these diverse habitats may modify the community composition and species diversity. During this study, a total of 254 macrobenthic species was found with polychaetes and crustaceans richest in species, and a very distinct zoned distrubution pattern was illustrated with the MDS plots, showing the clear similarity within intertidal muddy sand falt habitats. The species density increased gradually from the intertidal to subtidal areas but the abundance fluctuates greatly from station to station. Clearly defined groups were found, corresponding to a zonation of distinct macrofaunal assemblages at the Intertidal muddy sand flat, Zostera bed, and finally subtidal sandy mud areas. Then, species composition and diversity in different habitats along the transect as well as their relations with environmental characteristics anr described as well.