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: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 353

Special Issue Editor


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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
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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

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Keywords

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

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

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
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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