Community structure and decadal changes in macrozoobenthic assemblages in Lake Poyang, the largest freshwater lake in China

Lake Poyang is the largest freshwater lake in China and contains unique and diverse biota within the Yangtze floodplain ecosystem. However, knowledge of its macrozoobenthic assemblages remains inadequate. To characterize the current community structure of these assemblages and to portray their decadal changes, quarterly investigations were conducted at 15 sites from February to November 2012. A total of 42 taxa were recorded, and Corbicula fluminea, Limnoperna fortunei, Gammaridae sp., Nephtys polybranchia, Polypedilum scalaenum and Branchiura sowerbyi were found to dominate the community in terms of abundance. The bivalves Corbicula fluminea, Lamprotula rochechouarti, Arconaia lanceolata and Lamprotula caveata dominated the community in biomass due to their large body size. The mean abundance of the total macrozoobenthos varied from 48 to 920 ind.m(-2), the mean biomass ranged from 28 to 428 g.m(-2). The substrate type affected strongly the abundance, biomass, and diversity of the macrozoobenthos, with muddy sand substrates showing the highest values. Compared with historical data, remarkable changes were observed in the abundance of macrozoobenthos and the identity of the dominant species. The mean total abundance decreased from 724 ind.m(-2) in 1992 to 228 ind.m(-2) in 2012. The dominant species have shifted dramatically. Large unionids were dominant before 1998, whereas pollution-tolerant species (e.g., Branchiura sowerbyi) increased in dominance after 2008. Our findings should have implications for the conservation of the benthic biodiversity of this large Yangtze-connected lake.