Distribution and habitat condition of the endangered benthic animals associated with salt marsh in Tokyo Bay, Japan

Abstract

We investigated the spatial distribution of macrobenthos in salt marshes along the coast of Tokyo Bay, with environmental factors that influence their distribution. The field survey was conducted at 31 sites along the entire coast of the bay, in which presence or absence of the salt marsh animals and environmental factors (salinity, ORP, median grain size, elevation, vegetation area) of the habitats were examined. Most of common species of mollusks and crustaceans were distributed on entire coast of the bay, but some of endangered species showed restricted distribution in the coast. The restricted distribution of endangered salt marsh crabs were explained by several environmental factors; higher salinity and lower elevation of the habitat were suitable for Helicana japonica and Parasesarma affines, which were distributed in eastern coast in the bay, and Sesarmops intermedium, that was distributed in western coast and inner part, tended to inhabit higher elevation sites. Since local populations of these salt marsh species in the bay may be consisted of bay scale metapopulation that are formed by connectivity between small local populations through larval dispersal, distributional restriction of the salt marsh crabs in the bay may indicate that these endangered species are regarded as being difficult to persist in the bay. New local populations of the salt marsh benthos animals could be restored by creation of salt marsh habitats along the bay, to increase of the connectivity between local populations in the bay.