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Temperature and nutrients are significant drivers of seasonal shift in phytoplankton community from a drinking water reservoir, subtropical China

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Abstract

Reservoirs are an important source of water supply in many densely populated areas in southeast China. Phytoplankton plays an important role in maintaining the structure and function of these reservoir ecosystems. Understanding of seasonal succession in phytoplankton communities and its driving factors is essential for effective water quality management in drinking-water reservoirs. In this study, water samples were collected monthly at the surface layers of riverine, transitional, and lacustrine zones from May 2010 to April 2011 in Tingxi Reservoir, southeast China. The phytoplankton showed distinct seasonal shifts in community structure at both taxonomic and functional levels. Cyanophyta was the dominant group in summer, especially species of Raphidiopsis in May and Aphanizomenon in June, and cyanobacterial dominance was promoted by both warmer conditions and excessive nutrients loading. Cyanophyta was gradually replaced by Cryptophyta (e.g., Chroomonas caudata) in abundance and by Bacillariophyta (Fragilaria sp. or Synedra sp. and Melosira sp.) in biomass with decreasing temperature. It appeared that seasonal shifts in phytoplankton composition were closely related to climate, nutrient status, and hydrology in this reservoir. Our partial RDA results clearly showed that water temperature and nutrients (TN and TP) were the most critical factors driving phytoplankton community shift in the abundance and biomass data, respectively. Further, with the global warming, cyanobacterial blooms may increase in distribution, duration, and intensity. In our study, the abundance and biomass of cyanobacteria had significant and positive correlations with temperature and phosphorus. Therefore, a stricter limit on nutrient input should be a priority in watershed management to protect drinking water from the effects of cyanobacterial blooms, especially in high-temperature period.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Prof Colin S Reynolds for reading the manuscript and providing comments. This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB956103), the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (2012AA062607), the Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Fujian Province (2012J06009), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31370471, 31172114, and U1133601), and the K.C. Wong Education Foundation of Hong Kong.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquatic Ecohealth Group, Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China

    Hong Lv, Jun Yang, Lemian Liu, Xiaoqing Yu & Zheng Yu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Hong Lv & Zheng Yu

  3. Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 106, Taiwan

    Penchi Chiang

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  1. Hong Lv
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  2. Jun Yang
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  3. Lemian Liu
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  4. Xiaoqing Yu
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  5. Zheng Yu
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Correspondence to Jun Yang.

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Lv, H., Yang, J., Liu, L. et al. Temperature and nutrients are significant drivers of seasonal shift in phytoplankton community from a drinking water reservoir, subtropical China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 5917–5928 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2534-3

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