Densities of mollusc species at different sites along the Chinese coast

Aim: Molluscs are important grazers, filter and deposit feeders, scavengers and predators, which in turn are food for shorebirds, fish and people. Some species, targeted as human food, have been cultured along the Chinese coast for hundreds of years. To examine whether aquacultural practices have meanwhile affected biodiversity gradients, we measured mollusc community structure along the coast of China in habitats which are intensively used by humans.

Location: Chinese coast

Methods: We sampled 21 intertidal sites spanning 20 latitudinal degrees and 18,400 km of coastline. We assessed alpha diversity to verify whether mollusc communities exhibit the expected biodiversity gradient with latitude, and beta diversity gradients with distance. To examine whether human activities such as transportation and culturing could have affected these patterns, we distinguished commercial from non-commercial mollusc species and compared the differences in distribution, density, alpha diversity and...