Advance of the Study on the Macrobenthos from the Yellow Sea and East China Sea

Based on the collection and analysis of the references concerning the ecological study on the mac- robenthos from the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, the advances of the study on the species composition, dominant species, biomass, abundance, structure of community, biodiversity (indices of Shannon-Wiener, species richness, species evenness and dominance) and secondary productivity of the macrobenthos from these areas were summarized, the concerning research achievements were appraised. The Jiaozhou Bay, the Changjiang River Estuary, the Taiwan Strait, and the coastal areas are the areas in where there have been more researches on the macrobenthic ecology than other areas. The researches show that the quantities of macrobenthos in these seas varied wavily during the passed 50 years, the dominant species in these areas have changed very much. The human activities, particularly the coastal developments, should be the most important impact factors to the changes of macrobenthos. The present paper can provide basic and back- ground information for the further research on the macrobenthos from the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea and on the ecological study of the ecosystem from these seas.