Variations in the flow regime lead to changes in the spatial and temporal distributions of nutrients entering the estuary area from the river, which causes corresponding changes in the trophic structure of the estuarine food web and ultimately affects the entire ecosystem. Therefore, studying the responses of estuarine food webs to changes in upstream water and sediment conditions is of great significance for protecting the biodiversity, stability, and functional integrity of estuarine ecosystems. This study focused on the world-famous sandy river, the Yellow River, and the south and north shores of the Yellow River estuary and selected sample areas with different environmental characteristics. Typical species were sampled and measured for carbon- and nitrogen-stable isotopes in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Based on community indicators of stable isotopes, the trophic structure patterns of the aquatic ecosystem in the Yellow River estuary at different times and spaces were described. The results showed that the north shore area had greater trophic diversity and lower trophic redundancy than the south shore area. This kind of gap was more obvious in the wet season when water was abundant than in the dry season. The south shore area with lower aquatic productivity had greater reliance to input from terrestrial organic matter than the north shore area. The increase in terrestrial material input during the wet season increased the carbon-stable isotope value of the south shore food web and changed the basic food sources. The north shore food web, which did not depend on a single food source, had more abundant organic matter sources. The trophic diversity increased in the wet season, but the trophic redundancy was reduced. Our research suggests that the trophic structure patterns of estuarine ecosystems vary with the hydrological regime and environmental conditions, especially turbidity, which greatly affect the stability of estuarine ecosystems.

流动状态的变化会导致从河流进入河口区域的养分的时空分布发生变化，从而导致河口食物网的营养结构发生相应变化，并最终影响整个生态系统。因此，研究河口食物网对上游水和沉积物条件变化的响应对于保护河口生态系统的生物多样性，稳定性和功能完整性具有重要意义。这项研究的重点是世界著名的沙河，黄河以及黄河河口的南北两岸，并选择了具有不同环境特征的样本区域。在湿季和干季分别对典型物种进行了采样并测量了碳和氮稳定同位素。基于稳定同位素的群落指标，描述了黄河口水生生态系统在不同时间和空间的营养结构模式。结果表明，北岸地区的营养多样性比南岸地区大，营养冗余度低。这种缺水在缺水的雨季比旱季更为明显。水生生产力较低的南岸地区比北岸地区更依赖陆地有机物的输入。雨季期间陆上物质输入的增加增加了南岸食物网的碳稳定同位素值，并改变了基本食物来源。不依赖单一食物来源的北岸食物网拥有更多的有机物来源。在雨季，营养多样性增加，但营养冗余减少。我们的研究表明，河口生态系统的营养结构模式随水文状况和环境条件（尤其是浊度）而变化，这极大地影响了河口生态系统的稳定性。