Monthly Variation of Macrobenthic Fauna in the Rocky Intertidal Zone of Huiquan Cape, Qingdao

Intertidal zone is a transitional area between land and sea, where environmental dynamics is significantly influenced by the periodic tides and spatiotemporal heterogeneity is notable. Based on a 12-month ecological survey of the rocky intertidal level of Qingdao, we systematically analyzed the monthly variation and vertical stratification pattern of macrobenthic communities across different tidal zones and their responses to environmental factors in this study. The benthic community structure exhibited an obvious seasonal fluctuation. The species richness was high in spring and summer and significantly low in autumn and winter. Vertically, the high tidal level was characterized by a community structure with low diversity, low richness and high evenness whereas the middle tidal level was marked by high diversity, high richness and low evenness, being significantly different between two tidal levels. Temperature was the key environmental driver of community structure change. The factors like salinity, precipitation and chlorophyll a played also important roles in shaping community distribution. Our findings provided the insights into understanding the dynamic pattern of intertidal biological communities and the theoretical basis for the conservation and management of intertidal ecosystems.