Xiangshanbayisanarrowsemi-closedbayandsituatedonthenorthwesterncoastoftheEastChinaSea.Overpastdecades,ithasbecometoamajorbaywithintensivehumanactivities,denseurbanizedarea,andpoorwaterquality.Theaimofthispaperwastorevealtheecologicalstatusthroughtheelucidationofthespeciescomposition,abundance,biomassandpersityofmacrobenthosinthisbay.SixintertidalsectionsweresurveyedfromJanuary2007toNovember2008quarterly.SectionsTG,HDandXHarelocatedinthethreeinnerbays,sectionsQJandWSarelocatednearthethermalpowerplants,andsectionXXislocatedattheouterpartofXiangshanBay.Greatvariationsinmacrobenthoscommunitywereindentified,andthespeciescompositionofthecommunityinthepresentstudyshowedthedominanceintheorderofmolluscs(bivalvesandgastropods),crustaceansandothers,andonlyfewPolychaetawererecorded.Onlythreedominantspecies,Littorinabrevicula,Ilyplaxtansuiensis,andCerithideacingulatawerecollectedinallthesections,andatotalof19dominantspecieswererecordedonlyinonesection.Two-wayANOVAanalysesofabundanceindicatedthatthereweresignificantdifferencesamongsectionsorseasons.Shannon-Wienerpersityindex(H’)haditsmaximum(2.45)insectionQJ,andminimum(1.76)insectionTG.Multipleirregulark-dominanceplotsclearlyshowedthatthestudyareawaspollutedandthemacrobenthoscommunitywasunderstress.WeconcludethatthemacrobenthosofXiangshanBayhavebeendisturbedbyhumanactivities,especiallyattheinteriorbay.
