Spatial and temporal distributions of macrobenthic feeding guilds and their influencing factors in Hangzhou Bay and its adjacent areas

Abstract To analyze the distribution pattern of macrobenthic feeding guilds, 26 stations in Hangzhou Bay and its adjacent areas were investigated from 2012 to 2016. Twelve feeding guilds were determined, and predator (Pr) was the most speciose group. Deposit feeder (De) and Pr were the major contributors to abundance across the whole study area, and macrobenthos labeled with multiple feeding modes were quite rare. The abundance and biomass of different feeding guilds showed significant interannual and spatial variations. According to the result of hierarchical cluster analysis, Hangzhou Bay and its adjacent areas could be divided into three subareas. The offshore subarea had the highest feeding guilds diversity, abundance and biomass. The environmental factors in the study area had different effects on different macrobenthic feeding guilds. Results of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the depth and nitrogen were the most important driving factors in structuring the feeding guilds composition.