Abstract
Reservoirs created for hydropower production have become an important feature impacting a river. Understanding the effects of river impoundment on the downstream environment is critical to decision-making for water resource protection. The changes caused by impoundment are changes in water quality and the resulting effect on the phytoplankton community structure. The impacts caused by a series of reservoirs along a river are still not well understood. In this study, we conducted an investigation of five reservoirs along the Maotiao River, China. We found that a series of impoundments plays a role in decreasing the phytoplankton biomass in downstream reservoirs. Within the studied area, nitrogen is not a limiting factor for phytoplankton growth. The ratio of silicon to phosphorus (Si:P) can become a major factor in the regulation of phytoplankton community structure. The Si:P ratio increased from upstream to downstream reservoirs, causing a concurrent increase in the percentage of Bacillariophyta, particularly during the winter. In addition, our results indicate that the creation of dams eliminates Si limitation downstream.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Huihui Li, Zhiwei Han, Chipeng Zhang, Yan Yang and Ganrong Li for their careful assistances in field sampling. This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41273128 and 41021062) and the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (12YZ017).
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Wang, F., Wang, B., Liu, CQ. et al. Changes in nutrient ratios and phytoplankton community structure caused by hydropower development in the Maotiao River, China. Environ Geochem Health 36, 595–603 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-013-9583-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-013-9583-2