Effect of activities associated with coastal reclamation on the macrobenthos community in coastal wetlands of the Yellow River Delta, China: A literature review and systematic assessment

Abstract

Human activities such as seashore reclamation can have profound negative impacts on the macrobenthos of coastal wetlands. Using the Yellow River Delta as a case study, we conducted a thorough search of the literature to create a synthesis about the effects of reclamation processes. We found 31 publications that met our selection criteria, and we summarized their data to systematically quantify the impacts of reclamation on the dominant species, biomass, abundance, and biodiversity indices. We found that the dominant species changed remarkably, from Mollusca in the 1980s to Polychaeta, Crustacea, and Insecta (indicating a transition from a marine to a terrestrial environment) after 2000. The number of macrobenthos species in the community decreased by more than half from the 1980s to the 2010s and the effect sizes in the 2000s and 2010s both differed significantly from 0 (p < 0.01; t-test). Both the biomass and the abundance of the macrobenthos decreased significantly in the 2000s (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively; t-test), but not in the 2010s. The Margalef, Shannon-Wiener, and Pielou biodiversity indices did not differ significantly among four periods (from 1985 to 2015) or among the various reclamation activities. The number of species and biomass have decreased significantly under the comprehensive influence of seashore reclamation activities. Under individual reclamation activities, the number of species and their biomass decreased slightly but not significantly. The results of this research improve our understanding of the relationships among reclamation activities and the resulting changes in the macrobenthos community, thereby improving our ability to sustainably use these wetlands. We have prepared a suggested list of criteria to help future seashore reclamation researchers increase the quantity and quality of the data available to support future meta-analyses.

Shifts in the Distribution and Fate of Sedimentary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Within the Estuarine‐Inner Shelf Areas of the East China Sea: Response to Human‐Induced Catchment Change

“…Estuarine‐inner shelf areas are important components of coastal oceans that receive large amounts of terrigenous materials discharged via riverine input (Gao & Collins, ). However, river‐borne terrestrial materials being carried to oceans have been changed substantially by intensive human activities such as dam construction, fertilizer use, and water withdrawal (Milliman & Farnsworth, ; Syvitski et al, ); this inevitably influences the ecological environment of estuarine‐inner shelf areas (Tong et al, ; Wang et al, ; Yang et al, ; Zhang et al, ). The sedimentary environment in these regions has also changed, resulting in coarsening surface sediments (Luo et al, ; Yang et al, ), and erosion‐driven coastal retreat (Bentley et al, ; Darby et al, ; Nyberg et al, ; Ogston et al, ; Rahman et al, ), while increasingly serious human‐induced pollution in river catchments potentially influences coastal oceans (Gregg et al, ; Wang et al, ).…”

Variable Effects on Benthic Community From Diking to Eradicate Invasive Plants in the Yangtze Estuary Salt Marsh

“…In contrast, the number of species and individuals was significantly reduced in the fully diked area, perhaps because the area lacked communication with the natural resources of the outside tidal flat. This kind of ecological restoration project is similar to the violent disturbance caused by blown sand and deposition, which will cause a very significant disturbance to macrobenthos and a significant change in the community structure (Lv et al, 2016;Yang et al, 2016).…”

Implications of Nutrient Enrichment and Related Environmental Impacts in the Pearl River Estuary, China: Characterizing the Seasonal Influence of Riverine Input

“…where S insitu represents the salinity in the field samples; F 1 and F 2 are the fractions of the freshwater and seawater, respectively; while S 1 and S 2 denote the corresponding salinity levels of the two end-members. The conservative nutrient concentrations of DIN (N*), DIP (P*), and DSi (Si*) predicted by the two end-member model were calculated using Equations (3) to (5), respectively:…”

“…Nutrient levels have been significantly increased under the combination of natural changes and human activities in medium-and large-scale estuaries worldwide, stimulating the pollution of eutrophication and affecting biological responses [3,4]. Moreover, any changes in riverine nutrient input and their forms can cause alterations of the associated marine community and might shape the ecological stability [1,5]. River discharge provides abundant nutrients and other biogeochemical properties in the plume along the salt water of an estuary that stimulates phytoplankton growth [6].…”