Abstract
Field sampling of the macrobenthos from 23 stations in the Chukchi Sea was conducted during the 4th CHINARE (Chinese National Arctic Research Expeditions, July–August, 2010). We identified a total of 140 species of macrozoobenthos belonging to nine phyla, which were dominated by polychaetes (66), crustaceans (30), and mollusks (25), followed by echinoderms (9) and others (ten others, including four cnidarians, one oligochaete, one sipuncula, one priapulida, two bryozoans, and one urochordata). The dominant species were Aphelochaeta pacifica, Heteromastus filiformis, Nephtys ciliata, Nephtys caeca, Scoletoma fragilis, Golfingia margaritacea, Nuculana pernula, Macoma calcarea, Ennucula tenuis, Macoma inquinata, Musculus discors, Echinarachnius parma, and Ophiura sarsii, so there were more cold-eurythermal boreal immigrants than truly Arctic species (endemics). The average density and biomass (mean ± SD across all stations) of the total macrozoobenthos were (916 ± 907) ind/m2 and (902.9 ± 1 227.7) g/m2 (wet weight), respectively. Relatively high density and biomass were observed in the samples from the northeastern and southern Chukchi Sea. The spatial variation of benthic communities in the study sea area was relatively large; this spatial heterogeneity has led to high diversity and a patchy distribution pattern in the community structure. Compared to the 1st CHINARE (July–August, 1999), this investigation revealed different degrees of decreases in the average taxa numbers and the average density, abundance, and biodiversity in the area over the recent decade, which might be associated with global warming, human activities, and sea ice variations.
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Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41306116 and 41306115; the Basic Research Funds of the Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration under contract No. HSK 2013006; the Projects of Chinese Polar Scientific Research under contract No. CHINARE2012-2015; the Marine Nonprofit Industry Special Research Project Fund under contract No. 201105022-2; the Polar Science Strategic Research Foundation of China under contract No. 20140309.
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Wang, J., Lin, H., He, X. et al. Biodiversity and community structural characteristics of macrobenthos in the Chukchi Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 33, 82–89 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-014-0492-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-014-0492-8