Changes of Macrobenthic Diversity and Functional Groups in Saltmarsh Habitat under Different Seasons and Climatic Variables from a Subtropical Coast

Saltmarsh is one of the most productive coastal habitats in marine environment, and macroinvertebrate community crucial to its ecology productivity. These ecosystems are currently under threat due climate change anthropogenic activities. However, communities their functionality saltmarsh from subtropical areas have previously been largely ignored. In this study, we aimed elucidate (i) diversity assemblages, (ii) trophic structure, (iii) changes different seasons climatic variables a habitat. A total 29 taxa eight (8) major groups were recorded both seasons, with polychaetes being dominant (64%) monsoon crustaceans (50%) post-monsoon. Among identified, surface deposit feeders omnivores dominant, accounting for 78.52% groups. The highest value index (2.04) was observed at station S3 lowest (1.408) S2 Strong seasonal variability confirmed by two-way ANOVA PERMANOVA, SIMPER analysis identified that shrimp larvae (Macrobrachium sp.) contributed grouping patterns between seasons. addition, non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) revealed great dissimilarity macrobenthic faunal assemblages among study stations Spearman’s rank correlation canonical correspondence (CCA) results factors water temperature, salinity, alkalinity variation influenced benthic diversity.