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Inter-annual and intra-annual variations in water quality and its response to water-level fluctuations in a river-connected lake, Dongting Lake, China

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Abstract

The hydrological conditions of river-connected lakes are complex primarily owing to their considerable water-level fluctuations (WLFs). Water quality in such lakes varies with hydrodynamic variations; however, their relationship is not clear. To identify the unique relationship between water level and water quality in river-connected lakes, we used the comprehensive pollution index (CPI) and regression analysis to analyze the spatiotemporal variation in water quality in Dongting Lake from 2015 to 2018 and the effects of water level on water quality. Four water quality parameters were selected: total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), permanganate index (CODMn), and chlorophyll a (Chl-a). The results showed significant spatial variation in the lake water quality, with relatively high concentrations of TN, TP, CODMn, and Chl-a in East Dongting Lake. TN and TP decreased by 12.15% and 37.61%, respectively, from 2015 to 2018, whereas CODMn increased from 1.781 to 2.009 mg/L. Seasonally, TN and TP concentrations were low in the summer and autumn, with high concentrations in the winter and spring. In contrast, CODMn and Chl-a concentrations exhibited opposite trends. The pollution level in Dongting Lake ranged between slightly and moderately polluted, with a CPI ranging from 0.76 to 1.32 across all sampling sites during 2015–2018. The water level in Dongting Lake initially increased and, then, decreased in a year, with marked WLFs owing to seasonal shifts in precipitation and human activities. The water level had significant negative relationships with TN and TP concentrations and a significant positive relationship with CODMn concentration (p < 0.05). Based on the results, strict control of excessive external nutrient loading should be actively implemented in Dongting Lake, in addition to hydrological regulation for effective lake water quality management.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Joint Fund for Regional Innovation and Development of NSFC (U19A2051), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS (Y201861), the Leading Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation of High-tech Industries in Hunan Province (2020SK2019), the Key Program of Research and Development of Hunan Province (2022NK2058, 2022NK2059), the Water Conservancy Science Project of Hunan Province (XSKJ2019081-05, XSKJ2019081-31, XSKJ2021000-03), and the Youth Innovation Development Program of Changsha (kq1802026, kh1904002).

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Author notes

  1. Mingming Geng, Yandong Niu and Xiaohong Liao contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agro-Ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, 410125, People’s Republic of China

    Mingming Geng, Kelin Wang, Feng Li, Yeai Zou, Xinsheng Chen, Zhengmiao Deng & Yonghong Xie

  2. Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Research, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, 410125, People’s Republic of China

    Mingming Geng, Feng Li, Yeai Zou, Xinsheng Chen, Zhengmiao Deng & Yonghong Xie

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Mingming Geng

  4. Hunan Academy of Forestry, Changsha, 410004, People’s Republic of China

    Yandong Niu

  5. Dongting Lake Research Centre, Hunan Hydro & Power Design Institute, Changsha, 410007, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaohong Liao & Zhan Qian

  6. Hunan Key Laboratory of Water Environment Treatment and Ecological Restoration in Dongting Lake, Changsha, 410007, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaohong Liao & Zhan Qian

  7. Key Laboratory of Key Technologies of Digital Urban-Rural Spatial Planning of Hunan Province, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Hunan City University, Yiyang, 413000, People’s Republic of China

    Nan Yang

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  1. Mingming Geng
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  2. Yandong Niu
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  3. Xiaohong Liao
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  4. Kelin Wang
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  5. Nan Yang
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  7. Feng Li
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  11. Yonghong Xie
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Contributions

Mingming Geng: methodology, writing—original draft. Yandong Niu: formal analysis, investigation, software. Xiaohong Liao: data curation, conceptualization. Kelin Wang: data curation, investigation. Nan Yang: investigation. Zhan Qian: data curation. Feng Li: funding acquisition, writing—review and editing. Yeai Zou: software. Xinsheng Chen: methodology. Zhengmiao Deng: formal analysis. Yonghong Xie: supervision.

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Correspondence to Feng Li.

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Geng, M., Niu, Y., Liao, X. et al. Inter-annual and intra-annual variations in water quality and its response to water-level fluctuations in a river-connected lake, Dongting Lake, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 14083–14097 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16739-5

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