Multiple environmental factors drive the functional dimension of fish communities in the Central East China Sea.

A study of fish functional diversity based on trait-environment relationships offers new insights into comprehending the community structure of fish within marine ecosystems. The East China Sea is one of the most productive marine regions in China, and its fish communities are facing multiple pressures, including environmental changes, human activities, and habitat degradation. This study aims to investigate the functional α- and β-diversity of fish in the region, identify the environmental factors driving these variations, and explore how fish functional traits respond to these factors, using fish survey data from the central part of the Sea in 2016 and 2020, three functional α-diversity indices (functional richness, functional evenness, and functional divergence) and three functional β-diversity indices (functional β-diversity, functional turnover, and functional nestedness) were determined, as well as their comparisons.

[Ecosystem structure and function of Sanmen Bay based on Ecopath model.].

Ecosystem structure determines material circulation, energy flow, and system function. Based on field investigation data in the Sanmen Bay, East China Sea from 2017 to 2018, ecological channel model was constructed by Ecopath, describing energy flow routes and functional characteristics of the Sanmen Bay ecosystem. Results showed that grazing food chain was the main energy circulation channel, and the trophic level of each functional group ranged from 1 to 3.

[Trophic structure of pelagic fishery organism assemblage in the central and western South China Sea in spring revealed by carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis].

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was carried out on pelagic fishery organisms caught in light traps and falling nets in the central and western South China Sea in the spring of 2018. The stable isotope values of the sampled individuals were used to elucidate the isotopic variations for the pelagic fishery organisms, to classify species into trophic functional groups, and to compare the differences of trophic structure among the classified trophic functional groups. The results showed that among 23 fishery species the mean δC value of was the lowest (-17.