Abstract:Anthropogenic activities and environmental contamination have degraded the marine germ plasm resources as well as the environmental quality of their habitats in China. Therefore, China actively promotes the establishment of aquatic germ plasm resource protection areas. However, studies focused on the environmental quality of the germ plasm resource protection areas remain limited. In this study, based on survey data for environmental factors such as nutrients, heavy metals, and petroleum hydrocarbons obtained in May and August 2018, we evaluated the ecological environment quality of a Solen grandis national germ plasm resource protection area in Haizhou Bay using the comprehensive quality index. In addition, the eutrophication index and the organic pollution index were used to analyze the water environment quality of the protection area. According to the survey findings, all monitored factors satisfied the classⅠseawater quality national standard, excluding inorganic nitrogen concentrations at some stations. In 2018, the comprehensive quality index of this Solen grandis national germ plasm resource protection area in Haizhou Bay was 0.31~0.39, and the water quality in the area was slightly clean. The N/P ratios were higher than the Redfield ratio and the phosphate concentrations in seawater were much lower than the amounts required for normal phytoplankton growth and development, which implied that phosphorus was a major nutrient limiting biological productivity in the area. The eutrophication index was in the 0.05~0.27 range, which indicated that the nutritional level of the seawater in the protection area was poor. The organic pollution index was in the –0.24~0.81 range, which indicated favorable water quality in the protection area. These evaluation results suggest that the seawater environment quality in the Solen grandis national germ plasm resource protection area in Haizhou Bay has been maintained appropriately when compared with the historical survey data from 2008~2013.
