介形虫是一种对水深、盐度和温度等环境要素响应敏感的一年生广布性水生微体生物，利用其种属组合指示生境状况，常作为重建湖泊、海洋古盐度、古水深的辅助指标。在环境、动力变化强烈的海岸地区，现代介形虫组合及其生境特征的基础研究相对空白，限制了基于介形虫进行古环境重建的可靠性与分辨率。已有研究表明海岸地区强烈的人类活动会影响介形虫组合变化，但利用介形虫组合和生境指示污染状况的工作尚有限。本项目拟在陆海相互作用突出、人类活动影响密集的长江三角洲南翼，通过对典型区水体和沉积物中介形虫（活体与化石）特征组合（种群结构与个体形态）与生境（水体、沉积动力、元素）相互关系的基础研究，甄别与环境污染紧密联系的特征介形虫组合，利用统计学方法，建立介形虫特征组合及其生境与沉积过程和污染的关系，进而通过介形虫污染指示性的定量化研究，评估研究区一定时段内环境污染状况的变化，为不同河口海岸地区的生态环境修复与恢复提供依据。

Ostracods are one-year-life micro-fossils and senstive to water depth, salinity and temperature changes of host water bodies. Their assembleges are frequently used to assist in eco-envirnment reconstructions, especiallly for salinity, temperature and water depth, in marine and fresh water systems. Only few studies on modern ostracod assemblages and their living conditions in coastal regions are available restricting information on environmental and dymanic changes and paleo-environemntal implications. However, although researchers reported that ostracods assmpbalges would be affected by strong human activity in coastal regions, relativly rare studies on the relationship between ostracods and pollutions are applied. This study will focus on the identification of ostracod assemblages (alive and fossil) , their populations and individual shell forms in the selected waterbodies from the Yangtze estuary and coastal regions, by combining geochemical characteristics (incl. heavy metals), sedimentological properties (particle sizes) of the host water bodies in order to classify those communities that can be used as pollution indicators. Changes of ostracod distributions with focus on environmental pollution through time will be established after the achievement of inherent processes by statistical applications. Consequently, quantitative ostracod analyses as pollution indicators will be applied to evalute the grade of threatened evironments in different coastal/estuary regions and their changes during the last decades. Recommendations for restoring sustainable ecological conditions in estuary regions of will be provided.