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Phytoplankton dynamics of a subtropical reservoir controlled by the complex interplay among hydrological, abiotic, and biotic variables

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Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the key factors related to the spatiotemporal variations in phytoplankton abundance in a subtropical reservoir from 2006 to 2010 and to assist in developing strategies for water quality management. Dynamic factor analysis (DFA), a dimension-reduction technique, was used to identify interactions between explanatory variables (i.e., environmental variables) and abundance (biovolume) of predominant phytoplankton classes. The optimal DFA model significantly described the dynamic changes in abundances of predominant phytoplankton groups (including dinoflagellates, diatoms, and green algae) at five monitoring sites. Water temperature, electrical conductivity, water level, nutrients (total phosphorus, NO3-N, and NH3-N), macro-zooplankton, and zooplankton were the key factors affecting the dynamics of aforementioned phytoplankton. Therefore, transformations of nutrients and reactions between water quality variables and aforementioned processes altered by hydrological conditions may also control the abundance dynamics of phytoplankton, which may represent common trends in the DFA model. The meandering shape of Shihmen Reservoir and its surrounding rivers caused a complex interplay between hydrological conditions and abiotic and biotic variables, resulting in phytoplankton abundance that could not be estimated using certain variables. Additional water quality and hydrological variables at surrounding rivers and monitoring plans should be executed a few days before and after reservoir operations and heavy storm, which would assist in developing site-specific preventive strategies to control phytoplankton abundance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the financial support of the National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC 101-2313-B-451-003), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China (2015CFA050), and Laboratory of Basin Hydrology and Wetland Eco-restoration of China University of Geosciences, Wuhan (BHWER201401(A)). The authors want to thank Northern Region Water Resources Office, Water Resources Agency, Taiwan for providing the monitoring data.

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  1. Laboratory of Basin Hydrology and Wetland Eco-restoration, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Yi-Ming Kuo

  2. Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, and Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jiunn-Tzong Wu

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Kuo, YM., Wu, JT. Phytoplankton dynamics of a subtropical reservoir controlled by the complex interplay among hydrological, abiotic, and biotic variables. Environ Monit Assess 188, 689 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5713-5

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