Exploratory patterns of functional traits and feeding guilds of benthic macroinvertebrates across coastal sites in Kampung Blekok, Situbondo, Indonesia

Trait-based approaches can complement taxonomic assessments by describing ecological strategies of benthic organisms across coastal habitats.This study explored taxonomic composition, functional traits, feeding guilds, and sediment characteristics across six coastal sites in Kampung Blekok, Situbondo, Indonesia.Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected using standardized 25×25 cm quadrats, and functional composition was quantified using abundance-weighted biological traits analysis with fuzzy coding.Taxonomic and functional dissimilarities were evaluated using Bray-Curtis distance, while sediment characteristics were assessed using standardized Euclidean distance.Taxonomic composition differed markedly among sites, from complete dominance of Nereis at Site 1 to strong dominance of Pirenella at Sites 5 and 6.Functional profiles were generally dominated by epibenthic, free-living, mobile, and surface-modifying organisms, whereas feeding guilds showed greater spatial variation.Taxonomic and functional patterns showed moderate correspondence (Mantel r = 0.517, p = 0.0222), while sediment dissimilarity was weakly related to taxonomic (r = 0.077, p = 0.396) and functional patterns (r = 0.122, p = 0.386).These results indicate partial coupling between taxonomic and functional turnover, whereas the measured sediment variables did not clearly track biological variation.Given the absence of within-site replication, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory site-level patterns rather than causal relationships.