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Trophic interactions, ecosystem structure and function in the southern Yellow Sea

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Abstract

The southern Yellow Sea is an important fishing ground, providing abundant fishery resources. However, overfishing and climate change have caused a decline in the resource and damaged the ecosystem. We developed an ecosystem model to analyze the trophic interactions and ecosystem structure and function to guide sustainable development of the ecosystem. A trophic mass-balance model of the southern Yellow Sea during 2000–2001 was constructed using Ecopath with Ecosim software. We defined 22 important functional groups and studied their diet composition. The trophic levels of fish, shrimp, crabs, and cephalopods were between 2.78 and 4.39, and the mean trophic level of the fisheries was 3.24. The trophic flows within the food web occurred primarily in the lower trophic levels. The mean trophic transfer efficiency was 8.1%, of which 7.1% was from primary producers and 9.3% was from detritus within the ecosystem. The transfer efficiency between trophic levels II to III to IV to V to >V was 5.0%, 5.7%, 18.5%, and 19.7%–20.4%, respectively. Of the total flow, phytoplankton contributed 61% and detritus contributed 39%. Fishing is defined as a top predator within the ecosystem, and has a negative impact on most commercial species. Moreover, the ecosystem had a high gross efficiency of the fishery and a high value of primary production required to sustain the fishery. Together, our data suggest there is high fishing pressure in the southern Yellow Sea. Based on analysis of Odum’s ecological parameters, this ecosystem was at an immature stage. Our results provide some insights into the structure and development of this ecosystem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fishery College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Qun Lin  (林群)

  2. Key Laboratory for Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory for Fishery Resources and Eco-environment, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Qun Lin  (林群), Xianshi Jin  (金显仕) & Bo Zhang  (张波)

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  1. Qun Lin  (林群)
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  2. Xianshi Jin  (金显仕)
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  3. Bo Zhang  (张波)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xianshi Jin  (金显仕).

Additional information

Supported by the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (No. 200903005), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Nos. 2011CB409805, 2010CB951204), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40976103), the Special Fund for the Basic R&D Program in the Central Non-profit Research Institutes (No. 2009-ts-10), the Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Province, and the Yellow & Bohai Seas Scientific Observation and Experiment Station for Fishery Resources and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture

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Lin, Q., Jin, X. & Zhang, B. Trophic interactions, ecosystem structure and function in the southern Yellow Sea. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 31, 46–58 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-013-2013-6

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