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The relationships of meteorological factors and nutrient levels with phytoplankton biomass in a shallow eutrophic lake dominated by cyanobacteria, Lake Dianchi from 1991 to 2013

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Abstract

Long-term interannual (1991–2013) and monthly (1999–2013) data were analyzed to elucidate the effects of meteorological factors and nutrient levels on phytoplankton biomass in the cyanobacteria-dominated Waihai basin of Lake Dianchi. The interannual ln(chl. a) exhibited positive correlations with the mean air temperature, mean minimum air temperature, and mean maximum air temperature; in addition, a positive relationship between Δln(chl. a) and ΔTP was observed throughout the period. Additionally, ln(chl. a) exhibited a positive correlation with the TP concentration, negative correlations with the sunshine hours and wind speed during the dry season, and positive correlations with the TN and TP concentrations during the rainy season. Furthermore, TP was the most influential factor affecting cyanobacterial bloom dynamics throughout the entire period and during the dry season, and TN and TP were the most important factors during the rainy season, as determined by relative importance analysis. The results of this study based on interannual analysis demonstrated that both meteorological factors and nutrient levels have important roles in controlling cyanobacterial bloom dynamics. The relative importance of these factors may change according to precipitation patterns. Thus, climate change regulation and eutrophication management should be considered in strategies for bloom control. Decreasing the TP load should be prioritized throughout the entire period and during the dry season, and decreasing the TN and TP loads should be considered initially during the rainy season. In addition, further studies of more frequent and complete data acquired over a longer period of time should be conducted in the future.

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Acknowledgments

This work was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41301599) and the National Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment of China (No. 2013ZX07102-005 and 2013ZX07102-006-02). We thank the National Meteorological Information Center of China and the Kunming Environmental Monitoring Center for providing data. We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and constructive suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pollution Process and Management of Plateau Lake-Watershed, Yunnan Institute of Environmental Science (Kunming China International Research Center for Plateau Lake), Kunming, 650034, China

    Qichao Zhou, Yu Luo, Lei Zhao & Zhiwei Tan

  2. Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Qichao Zhou & Yunlin Zhang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Qichao Zhou & Lirong Song

  4. Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China

    Dunmei Lin

  5. Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China

    Kun Shan

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  1. Qichao Zhou
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  2. Yunlin Zhang
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  3. Dunmei Lin
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Correspondence to Yunlin Zhang or Lirong Song.

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Qichao Zhou is the first author.

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Zhou, Q., Zhang, Y., Lin, D. et al. The relationships of meteorological factors and nutrient levels with phytoplankton biomass in a shallow eutrophic lake dominated by cyanobacteria, Lake Dianchi from 1991 to 2013. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 15616–15626 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6748-4

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