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Diversity
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Dynamics of Marine Communities—Second Edition
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Dynamics of Marine Communities—Second Edition

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 3028

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Joo Myun Park

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Geoje 53201, Republic of Korea
Interests: benthic–pelagic coupling; food web; stable isotope ecology; community structure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In marine ecosystems, benthic and pelagic communities have continuously experienced changes in their species composition, their dominant species, and the ecology of individual species according to various anthropogenic and environmental influences. If external influences such as climate change and human activities continue, biological communities will form new communities through the process of succession, resulting in changes in available biological resources. Therefore, at this point, it is important to identify fluctuations in the biological communities in marine ecosystems and the influences of environmental variables, and to predict future changes. However, in the absence of a baseline from which to compare past and future studies, it is impossible to effectively predict the impacts of humans and climate change on the community ecology of marine habitats. The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish novel and high-quality research addressing the topics mentioned below and other related areas.

  • The long- and/or short-term dynamics of marine communities;
  • The link between environmental and/or anthropogenic influences and the changes in marine communities;
  • Geographical variations in the community structures and ecology of marine species;
  • The role of predators and prey species in marine communities;
  • The effect of species introductions on marine communities;
  • Marine communities and climate change.

Dr. Joo Myun Park
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • marine species
  • community dynamics
  • community structure and ecology
  • environmental change

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1440 KB  
Article
Macrobenthic Community Structure and Associated Carbon Stocks in Tidal Flats of South Korea
by Seongjun Bae, Chang-Ho Yi, Dongwoo Yang, Naeun Jo, Ji Min Kim and Hye Seon Kim
Diversity 2026, 18(5), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18050254 - 25 Apr 2026
Viewed by 271
Abstract
Tidal flats are ecologically important coastal ecosystems with significant carbon stocks; however, although taxon-specific carbon assessments have been conducted in other coastal systems, such data remain scarce for Korean tidal flats, where bivalve aquaculture is actively practiced. This study examined the macrobenthic community [...] Read more.
Tidal flats are ecologically important coastal ecosystems with significant carbon stocks; however, although taxon-specific carbon assessments have been conducted in other coastal systems, such data remain scarce for Korean tidal flats, where bivalve aquaculture is actively practiced. This study examined the macrobenthic community structure and carbon stock contributions in two tidal flats on the west coast of South Korea (Seosan and Seocheon) through field surveys conducted in May and August 2023. A total of 110 invertebrate species from five phyla were identified. Annelida showed the highest species richness at both sites (47.4–62.3% of total species), whereas Mollusca dominated biomass and carbon stocks. Two-way PERMANOVA confirmed significant differences in community structure between sites (Pseudo-F = 15.376, p < 0.001) and months (Pseudo-F = 9.489, p = 0.001), and a significant site × month interaction (Pseudo-F = 4.800, p = 0.028). Nonparametric ANCOVA revealed that Mollusca exhibited a significantly higher carbon mass conversion rate relative to wet weight than all the other taxa (p < 0.001). Rank abundance curves and principal coordinate analyses indicated that Ruditapes philippinarum accounted for 86.9% of total carbon mass in Seosan, whereas R. philippinarum and Mactra veneriformis together accounted for 73.5% in Seocheon, despite Annelida comprising the majority of species richness. These results indicate that the macrobenthic carbon stocks of Korean tidal flats are disproportionately concentrated in a few dominant calcifying Bivalvia species rather than across the overall community diversity, with implications for coastal ecosystem management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Marine Communities—Second Edition)
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15 pages, 2407 KB  
Article
Microbial Community Characterization of Nine Korean Sponge Species from Gageodo Island
by Minjee Kim, Myoung-Sook Shin, Sung Jin Kim, Subin Park, Inho Yang, Young A Kim and Hiyoung Kim
Diversity 2026, 18(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18010042 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 508
Abstract
Marine sponges are known to be associated with diverse and functionally specialized microbial consortia that are implicated in host metabolism, biogeochemical cycling, and bioactive compounds production. The microbiome diversity and composition of nine sponge species from the remote waters of Gageodo Island, Korea, [...] Read more.
Marine sponges are known to be associated with diverse and functionally specialized microbial consortia that are implicated in host metabolism, biogeochemical cycling, and bioactive compounds production. The microbiome diversity and composition of nine sponge species from the remote waters of Gageodo Island, Korea, were evaluated via full-length 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatic analyses. Each sponge species harbored a distinct microbial community, with differences potentially influenced by ecological factors, evolutionary history, and host–symbiont associations. The dominant microbial phyla identified across the sponge samples include Pseudomonadota, Cyanobacteriota, Acidobacteriota, Planctomycetota, and Chloroflexota, which were widely distributed across samples. In addition, the classes Gammaproteobacteria, Acidobacteriae, and Anaerolineae appeared as characteristic groups, being particularly abundant in specific sponge samples. Community structures ranged from dominance by one or two abundant taxa to more taxonomically diverse and evenly distributed microbiomes. A notable proportion of sequences were unassignable to known taxa, suggesting the occurrence of previously uncharacterized microbial lineages in these sponges. By combining host species identification with microbiome profiling, this study provides new foundations on the microbial ecology of Korean sponge holobionts, providing higher-resolution taxonomic classification, improved diversity estimates, and enhanced characterization of evolutionary relationships among symbionts. These findings may support future investigations into host–microbe interactions, potential ecological functions, and the management of marine genetic resources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Marine Communities—Second Edition)
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15 pages, 1322 KB  
Article
Ecological Effects of Seaweed Restoration on Benthic Macrofauna in Marine Forest Development Areas Along the Eastern Coast of Korea
by Choul-Hee Hwang, Gayoung Jin, Do Yeon Kim, Jae-Gil Jang, Ji Chul Oh, Chang Soo Bae and Joo Myun Park
Diversity 2026, 18(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18010027 - 2 Jan 2026
Viewed by 989
Abstract
Although marine forest restoration projects have been widely implemented along the Korean coast, most evaluations have relied on simple structural indicators such as seaweed coverage or biomass, leaving functional responses of benthic macrofaunal communities largely unexplored. This study examined the effects of marine [...] Read more.
Although marine forest restoration projects have been widely implemented along the Korean coast, most evaluations have relied on simple structural indicators such as seaweed coverage or biomass, leaving functional responses of benthic macrofaunal communities largely unexplored. This study examined the effects of marine forest restoration on the functional structure of macrozoobenthic communities at development sites along Korea’s eastern coast in 2021 and 2024. Seaweed biomass increased significantly in 2024 compared to that in 2021, and this increase in seaweed biomass showed a clear positive correlation with increases in species number, density, and biomass of macrozoobenthos. Changes in feeding types of macrozoobenthic communities were remarkable, with grazer density increasing most sharply, followed by carnivores, omnivores, and suspension feeders. Red algal biomass was also positively correlated with suspension feeders and grazers, suggesting that seaweed mediated habitat and secondary food-web structures beyond providing simple food resources. These results indicate that seaweed habitat restoration plays an important role in recovering the functional diversity and feeding guild composition of macrozoobenthic communities and demonstrates the potential of using both species and functional diversity indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of marine forest restoration projects in Korea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Marine Communities—Second Edition)
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12 pages, 2608 KB  
Article
Seasonal Dynamics of Fisheries and Crustacean Communities in the Offshore of the Zhoushan Archipelago Seas: A Size Spectrum Analysis
by Hongliang Zhang, Feifan He, Yongjiu Xu, Zishuo Zhang, Luping Li and Wenbin Zhu
Diversity 2025, 17(11), 744; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17110744 - 23 Oct 2025
Viewed by 612
Abstract
Understanding the seasonal dynamics of the fisheries and crustacean communities are of crucial ecological significance. To investigate the structural characteristics of these communities and their seasonal dynamics in the offshore of the Zhoushan Archipelago Seas, China, this study conducted a four seasons’ trawl [...] Read more.
Understanding the seasonal dynamics of the fisheries and crustacean communities are of crucial ecological significance. To investigate the structural characteristics of these communities and their seasonal dynamics in the offshore of the Zhoushan Archipelago Seas, China, this study conducted a four seasons’ trawl survey to collect fisheries data in spring, summer, autumn, and winter of 2022. A normalized abundance size spectrum approach was applied to investigate the seasonal variation in regressed parameters (slope and intercept) for fish-only and fish-plus-crustacean communities. Our study found that average values of the slope of the size spectrum for fish and fish-plus-crustacean were −1.36 and −1.53, respectively; the overall adding effect with crustaceans in all seasons was more negative (a steeper slope). The results also showed that the adding effect of crustaceans in the fisheries communities were season-specific and region-specific. Temporally, adding crustaceans into fisheries communities contributed to more/less negative slopes in temperate/warm seasons, respectively. Regionally, the inclusion of crustaceans induced a reverse distribution pattern (nearshore–offshore) for fish abundance, as well as the re-scaled intercept, which could indicate the abundance in all seasons except in summer. It was assumed that although fish dominated the overall community structure, crustaceans contributed a compensatory effect by regulating the size distribution across trophic levels. This study provides valuable insights for the dynamic assessment and scientific management of fisheries and crustacean resources in the whole ecosystem. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics of Marine Communities—Second Edition)
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