Benthic components occupy the sediment layer of aquatic ecosystems and play a definitive role in overall system functioning and maintenance. The exchange of inorganic and organic materials between the sediment and water column through benthic-pelagic coupling plays a very important role especially in shallow water ecosystems. It is facilitated mainly by trophic interactions between the benthic and pelagic food webs, or specifically, between the coupling links i.e. the nodes that participate in coupling. Aquatic ecosystem models incorporating benthic food web in details have been few. In the present study, a food web model incorporating both benthic and pelagic food webs has been developed using EcoPath with EcoSim software, for Kakinada Bay ecosystem of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, India and has been analysed to get an idea about this system's functioning and integrity. Hypothetical perturbation scenarios (perturbation of biomass of two important benthic components – microphytobenthos and suspension feeding invertebrates) were applied to the model to study the effects of these two components on overall system robustness and integrity. The analysis of the base model revealed that while the bay system has not yet attained maturity, it also does not face much stress. While the system saw a decline in maturity with increase in microphytobenthos (MPB) biomass, increase in biomass of suspension feeding invertebrate (SFI) resulted in the exact opposite. Study of SFI biomass perturbation scenario also highlighted its role in coupling. Modelling studies incorporating benthic components as separate groups have been few. This work aims to provide a better insight into how benthic components may affect the whole system. Information regarding system health and resilience provided by such models can also be used as guidelines for fishery management and policy making.

底栖成分占据了水生生态系统的沉积层，并在整个系统的功能和维护中起着决定性的作用。底栖-浮游耦合作用在沉积物和水柱之间交换无机和有机物质起着非常重要的作用，特别是在浅水生态系统中。主要通过底栖食物网和上层食物网之间的营养相互作用，或者特别是在耦合链接之间（即参与耦合的节点）之间的营养相互作用而得到促进。结合底栖食物网的水生生态系统模型很少。在本研究中，已使用EcoPath与EcoSim软件开发了结合了底栖和上层食物网的食物网模型，用于印度安得拉邦沿海的卡基纳达湾生态系统，并已得到分析，以了解该系统的想法。的功能和完整性。假设的扰动方案（两个重要底栖生物的生物量扰动-微底栖动物和悬浮饲料无脊椎动物）被应用到模型中，以研究这两个分量对整个系统的鲁棒性和完整性的影响。对基本模型的分析表明，尽管托架系统尚未成熟，但也不会面临太大压力。虽然该系统的成熟度随着微底栖动物（MPB）生物量的增加而下降，但悬浮饲料无脊椎动物（SFI）的生物量增加却导致了相反的结果。对SFI生物质摄动情景的研究也强调了其在耦合中的作用。将底栖成分作为单独的组进行建模的研究很少。这项工作旨在更好地了解底栖组件如何影响整个系统。这些模型提供的有关系统健康和弹性的信息也可以用作渔业管理和政策制定的指南。