Nationwide macrobenthos survey in Korean tidal flats

초록

In South Korea, according to the Wetland Conservation Law (1999) the entire tidal flats all along the Korean coastline have been studied every 5 year in terms of macrobenthic species diversity, abundance, and biomass. Based on these surveys, a total of 573 macrobenthic species with an average biomass of 102 gWWt/m2 and average abundance of 1707 individuals/m2 are recorded. This high macrobenthic biodiversity is much higher than in the Wadden Sea tidal flats where only 150 species are found. We discussed also the pros and cons of this type of benthic survey.