Macrobenthos composition, community and diversity in the marine protected area of Jianjiang Estuary was reported and three biotic indices were applied to evaluate the habitat ecological quality status (EcoQs) of the reserve. A total of 58 macrobenthos species were identified, of which Mollusca species accounted for the highest proportion (48.28%), followed by Annelida (27.59%), and Arthropoda (18.97%). The abundance and biomass of macrobenthos varied among the sites in different seasons, and macrobenthos community in spring and autumn were drove by different environmental variables. Abundance biomass comparison curves (ABC curve) combined with the W-statistic indicated that the macrobenthos community is undisturbed in the spring but disturbed in autumn. Second, the AZTI marine biotic index (AMBI) indicated that most sites have high or good EcoQs, with site quality generally being higher in the spring. Finally, the multivariate AMBI (M-AMBI) results showed that the average EcoQs in spring were good, compared to only moderate EcoQs in autumn. The lower EcoQs in autumn was largely due to sites near the river outflow that were disturbed primarily as a result of the 1-in-10-year flood discharge that occurred during our sampling year. In addition, the impact of assigning species ecological groups on the AMBI result was discussion. Overall, our results provide scientific suggestions for future management of the Jianjiang estuary reserve.

macrofauna, subtropical estuary, nature reserve, ecological health, AMBI