Сommunities of macrozoobenthos on soft sediments in the coastal areas of Peter the Great Bay near Vladivostok (Japan Sea) and their ecological status

Abstract

At least 16 communities of macrozoobenthos are determined by modern statistical methods on soft sediments in the coastal areas with the depth of ≥ 5 m of Peter the Great Bay at Vladivostok surveyed in 2001–2019. They were: I. Scoletoma spp. + Sigambra bassi; II. Scoletoma spp. + Ophiura sarsii; III. Philine orientalis + Macoma sp.; IV. Aphelochaeta pacifica; V. A. pacifica + Capitella capitata; VI. O. sarsii + Macoma scarlatoi; VII. O. sarsii + Scoletoma spp. + Scoloplos armiger + Ennucula tenuis; VIII. Phoronopsis harmeri; IX. Maldane sarsi; X. A. pacifica + Dipolydora cardalia; XI. Scoletoma spp.; XII. Praxillella gracilis + Pelonaia corrugata, XIII O. sarsii + Acila insignis, XIV Scoletoma spp. + O. sarsii + M. sarsi; XV. Scoletoma spp. + M. scarlatoi, and XVI. A. pacifica. Their differentiation was determined by such environmental imperatives as the level of chemical pollution, eutrophication, and impact of terrigenous water discharge. By biotic indices (AMBI, M-AMBI, TPFbio), the most damaged and environmentally disturbed communities were IV, V, and XVI inhabited the Golden Horn Bay and Diomid Inlet. The communities of the East Bosphorus Strait (III, VI) have higher ecological status that increases even more in the Amur and Ussuri Bays (communities I, II, VII, XII, XIII, XV, XIV), except of the northern tips of both bays (IX, XI) and the eastern part of the Amur Bay (VIII, X). With such bioindicative approach, ecological status of the communities is described more concisely and visually than with indices of species richness, diversity, or W-statistics.