Macro benthos community distribution in the Yellow River Delta and correlation with environment

Biodiversity conservation in the Yellow River Delta Wetland was examined, as exemplified by macro benthos which is at a crucial position in the aquatic food web．Twenty eight hydrological nodes were collected from fresh water recovery zone (HR, DR), tidal zone (HT, DT), old and current channel of Yellow River (YR) in the Yellow River estuary and Dawenliu Station in August 2018, with a total of 1908 samples．In total 3 phyla, 6 classes, 18 orders, 38 families and 48 taxa were found, with dominant taxa Arthropoda accounting for 58.33% of all．Abundance and biomass distribution revealed a larger population in tidal zones than recovery zones, the community structure showed significant differences in five zones．Cluster analysis with environmental factors and community structure revealed overlaps between three habitat types and three community types at 44.44%, 0%, 53.33% respectively．Environmental factors pH and EC were significantly correlated with distribution of dominant species Corophium sinense, Palaemon modestus and Potamocorbula laevis．Distribution of macro benthos community in the Yellow River Delta showed great spatial heterogeneity, coefficient of variation of environmental species was over 80%, macro benthos resources in some hydrological nodes may need to be restored urgently．