InordertoexaminetheseasonalandspatialdistributionsofbenthicanimalsintheintertidalmudflatofthesouthernYellowRiverDelta,fieldinvestigationswerecarriedoutin2007and2008andmultiplemethodswereapplied.Resultsshowedthat,thebiomassofmacrobenthosrangedat0.75-1151.00gwetm-2andaveragedat156.31gwetm-2,inwhichMactraveneriformisaccountedfor75.6%-93.4%ofthetotalmacrobenthicbiomass.Morethan90%ofmacrobenthosinhabitedinthemiddleandlowtidelines,andhigherbiomassoccurredinearlysummerandlowerinwinter.Statisticalanalysisshowedthat:1)M.veneriformisgrowthwasprimarilyfavoredathighertemperatureandlowersalinity;2)afterlongtimeinteraction,benthicbivalvegrazersledtopatchingdistributionsofChlorophylla(Chla);3)macrobenthicbiomasspositivelyrelatedwithChlawhentheconcentrationofChlawaslow,buttheywerenegativelyrelatedwhenChlaconcentrationwashigh;and4)furthermore,thebiomassofbenthicbivalvespeakedinthesedimentwithmediangrainsizeabout0.55mm,butdecreasedgraduallyincoarseorfinesediments.Thesecondaryproductivityrangedat0.37?283.68gm-2yr-1andaveragedat47.88gm-2yr-1,inwhich69.7%wascontributedbyM.veneriformisItwasestimatedthatprimaryproductionwastransformedtosecondaryproductionatarateof6.87%approximately,whichimpliesthatthereisalocalsustainabilityofhighbivalveproduction.
