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Response of the cladoceran community to eutrophication, fish introductions and degradation of the macrophyte vegetation in Lake Dianchi, a large, shallow plateau lake in southwestern China

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Abstract

A paleolimnological evaluation was made in order to analyze the effects of increasing nutrient load, macrophyte degradation and fish introductions on the cladoceran community of a large, shallow plateau lake in southwestern China. The trophic state of Lake Dianchi has increased rapidly during recent decades, its macrophyte vegetation has suffered severe degradation, and fish introductions in the late 1950s and early 1980s have had a marked effect on the structure of the fish community. Our results show an increase in abundance of cladoceran species with a preference for eutrophic conditions over the last few decades, while species preferring oligotrophic conditions have decreased or disappeared. These changes correspond to the eutrophication in Lake Dianchi. The loss of the cladocerans Kurzia latissima and Disparalona rostrata is likely to be a reflection of the degradation of the macrophyte community. An increase in Daphnia body size indicated by the ephippia length since the early 1990s is associated with the decline of planktivorous species.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40901268, 41073057, U1033062, 41161082) and Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (1RT0966). Lin Xin did the loess fit for Fig. 4 and is acknowledged. The authors gratefully acknowledge two anonymous referees as well as the editor, Dietmar Straile, for their constructive comments. The authors give their thanks to Weilan Xia for sediment dating.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou, China

    Guimin Liu

  2. Engineering Research Center for Cold and Arid Regions Water Resource Comprehensive Utilization, Ministry of Education, Anning West Road 88, Lanzhou, 730070, China

    Guimin Liu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Science, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Zhengwen Liu & Feizhou Chen

  4. Department of Ecology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510630, China

    Zhengwen Liu

  5. Asian International Rivers Center (Key Lab), Yunnan University, North Green Lake Road 2, Kunming, 650091, China

    Zhuo Zhang

  6. Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Binhe Gu

  7. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Geography, University of South Florida, 140 7th Avenue South, Davis Hall 258, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Joseph M. Smoak

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  1. Guimin Liu
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Correspondence to Zhengwen Liu.

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Handling Editor: Dietmar Straile.

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Liu, G., Liu, Z., Chen, F. et al. Response of the cladoceran community to eutrophication, fish introductions and degradation of the macrophyte vegetation in Lake Dianchi, a large, shallow plateau lake in southwestern China. Limnology 14, 159–166 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-012-0391-7

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