Ecological Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Seagrass Bed in Caofeidian

Abstract

The investigation and research of the distribution, biological characteristics, water environment and sediment environmental elements of the seagrass bed in Caofeidian was conducted to define the distribution area of the seagrass bed, classify its coverage, analyze and study the ecological characteristics of the seagrass bed and the characteristics of key environmental impact factors. This provides technical references for understanding the resource and environmental background of the Caofeidian seagrass bed, delimiting the protection area, marine ecological restoration, and blue carbon research. The results show that the dominant species of the Caofeidian seagrass bed is eelgrass, The average plant height is 75.00±6.15 cm/shoot. Moreover, there are differences among different sites. The overall average stem density is 261.26±48.50 shoots/m2, and the total average aboveground and belowground biomass are 302.53±71.79 g DW/m2 and 114.71±27.40 g DW/m2, respectively. The distribution area of the seagrass bed is 42.90 km2, with dense area, relatively dense area, general area, relatively sparse area and sparse area accounting for 13.09%, 12.93%, 18.82%, 18.75% and 36.40%, respectively. The seagrass is distributed in two regions, northern and southern, with dense area and relatively dense area mostly distributed in the northern region. The difference in water environment between the grass bed area and the bare sand area is not significant, while the difference in sediment environment between the grass bed area and the bare sand area is significant. Water temperature, nutrient salts, transparency, water flow, and human engineering activities are key factors that affect the growth of seagrass in the Caofeidian sea area.

Keywords

• caofeidian
• seagrass bed
• ecological characteristics
• influencing factors
• zostera marina
• water environment