BENTHIC FORAMINIFERAL COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND DIVERSITY IN INTERTIDAL ZONE NEAR CHINA RESOURCES WENZHOU POWER PLANT

Benthic foraminifera are good indicators for monitoring marine environmental pollution and recovery of marine ecosystem. In this study, high-throughput sequencing based on small subunit rDNA and rRNA amplifications was used to assess total and active benthic foraminifera diversity and community composition in intertidal sediments near China Resources Wenzhou Power Plant. The results showed that the closer to the power plant, the lower the diversity and richness of both total and active foraminifera are. The total assemblages had higher values of species diversity and richness than active communities. a total of 33 and 25 foraminifera genera were identified using DNA-based and RNA-based HTS, respectively. The dominant genera included Vellaria, Stainforthia and Miliammina in total foraminiferal communities, and became Ammonia, Miliammina and Notorotalia in active foraminiferal communities at the station slightly away from the power plant; while only one dominant genus, Haplomyxa, was detected close to the power plant.