Many of the global ecosystem functions are changing with the loss of biodiversity. It is therefore particularly important to understand the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships to support scientific ecological conservation and management. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between environmental factors, biodiversity (species richness and evenness) and ecosystem functions (measured as total biomass) in the benthic fish community of Haizhou Bay, using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on bottom trawl survey data conducted in spring 2013−2022. The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between species richness and biomass, and a significant negative correlation between evenness and biomass. Among the environmental factors, salinity had significant effects on both species richness and biomass. Regarding the effects of temperature, the temperatures in winter and summer had a stronger effect on biomass than that of annual average temperature. The study suggested that two mechanisms, the niche complementarity mechanism and selection mechanism, may simultaneously play a role in maintaining the biodiversity-biomass relationships in the groundfish communities of Haizhou Bay, and in addition to the fact that such relationships depend on the environmental and habitat conditions.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |