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Effects of wind wave turbulence on the phytoplankton community composition in large, shallow Lake Taihu

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Abstract

Wind waves are responsible for some of the spatio-temporal gradients observed in the biotic and abiotic variables in large shallow lakes. However, their effects on the phytoplankton community composition are still largely unexplored especially in freshwater systems such as lakes. In this paper, using field observations and mesocosm bioassay experiments, we investigated the impact of turbulence generated by wind waves on the phytoplankton community composition (especially on harmful cyanobacteria) in Lake Taihu, a large, shallow eutrophic lake in China. The composition of the phytoplankton community varied with the intensity of wind waves in the different areas of the lake. During summer, when wind waves were strong in the central lake, diatoms and green algae seemed to dominate while harmful cyanobacteria dominated in the weakly influenced Meiliang Bay. Turbulence bioassays also showed that diatoms and green algae were favoured by turbulent mixing. The critical time for the shift of the phytoplankton community composition was approximately 10 days under turbulent conditions. However, short-term (6 days) turbulence is rather beneficial for the dominance of cyanobacteria. This study suggests that the duration of wind events and their associated hydrodynamics are key factors to understanding the temporal and spatial changes of phytoplankton communities.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the very thorough and constructive reviews provided by two anonymous reviewers. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (41230744, 41471021) and Water Pollution Control and Management Project (2012ZX07503-002). We thank the Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research (TLLER) for providing the physical, chemical, and phytoplankton data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, People’s Republic of China

    Jian Zhou, Boqiang Qin, Tingfeng Wu & Pan Wu

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

    Jian Zhou & Pan Wu

  3. UMR INRA-SupAgro 0729 MISTEA (Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics for Environment & Agronomy), 2 place Pierre Viala, 34060, Montpellier, France

    Céline Casenave

  4. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoxia Han

  5. School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi, 214122, People’s Republic of China

    Guijun Yang

  6. Key Laboratory of Reservoir Aquatic Environment, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China

    Jianrong Ma

  7. Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 73 East Beijing Road, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Boqiang Qin

Authors
  1. Jian Zhou
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  2. Boqiang Qin
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  3. Céline Casenave
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  4. Xiaoxia Han
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  5. Guijun Yang
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  6. Tingfeng Wu
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  7. Pan Wu
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  8. Jianrong Ma
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Correspondence to Boqiang Qin.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Zhou, J., Qin, B., Casenave, C. et al. Effects of wind wave turbulence on the phytoplankton community composition in large, shallow Lake Taihu. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 12737–12746 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4535-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4535-2

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