Sedimentary diatom and pigment-inferred recent anthropogenic accelerated eutrophication of a Mediterranean lake(Lake Dojran,Republic of North Macedonia/Greece)

Lake eutrophication is recognised as a serious global challenge,and many regional legislative programmes are being made to attempt to relieve nutrient pollution and restore deteriorated lake ecological state.However,it is of primary importance to understand the degradation processes and reference conditions.The palaeolimnological approach allows us to use ecological evidences preserved in lake sediments to track the changes of lake trophic status under human impact.Diatoms,a proxy for ecological and limnological change,and pigments,a proxy for algal production and composition,were analysed on a short sediment sequence from Lake Dojran(Republic of North Macedonia and Greece),and their preservation qualities were evaluated before environmental interpretation.Good diatom preservation is inferred mainly from the consistent co-occurrence of robust,highly-silicified taxa and small taxa throughout the sequence.Pigment evaluation of the comparison between wet sediment samples in dark and cold storage and their corresponding dry sediment samples lyophilized immediately after the recovery reveals that sediment restoration conditions are critical for the accuracy of analysis.We show that the increased chlorophyll and xanthophyll pigment concentrations,particularly the siliceous-algae pigment fucoxanthin and diatoxanthin,together with the distinct increase in diatom concentration,indicate accelerated lake eutrophication and a major ecological shift linked to intensified water abstraction practice and agricultural expansion in the late 18th to early 19th century.Evidence of diatom assemblage composition is muted probably by the dominance of widely-tolerant small fragilaroid species in diatom composition and the better competitive ability of cyanobacteria and chlorophytes than diatoms for low light under eutrophic and turbid conditions.This study improves our understanding of recent human-induced environmental change and current ecological restoration target in this lake.

Spatial changes and driving factors of lake water quality in Inner Mongolia, China

Lakes play important roles in sustaining the ecosystem and economic development in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China,but the spatial patterns and driving mechanisms of water quality in lakes so far remain unclear.This study aimed to identify the spatial changes in water quality and the driving factors of seven lakes(Juyanhai Lake,Ulansuhai Lake,Hongjiannao Lake,Daihai Lake,Chagannaoer Lake,Hulun Lake,and Wulannuoer Lake)across the longitudinal axis(from the west to the east)of Inner Mongolia.Large-scale research was conducted using the comprehensive trophic level index(TLI(Σ)),multivariate statistics,and spatial analysis methods.The results showed that most lakes in Inner Mongolia were weakly alkaline.Total dissolved solids and salinity of lake water showed obvious zonation characteristics.Nitrogen and phosphorus were identified as the main pollutants in lakes,with high average concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorus being of 4.05 and 0.21 mg/L,respectively.The values of TLI(Σ)ranged from 49.14 to 71.77,indicating varying degrees of lake eutrophication,and phosphorus was the main driver of lake eutrophication.The lakes of Inner Mongolia could be categorized into lakes to the west of Daihai Lake and lakes to the east of Daihai Lake in terms of salinity and TLI(Σ).The salinity levels of lakes to the west of Daihai Lake exceeded those of lakes to the east of Daihai Lake,whereas the opposite trend was observed for lake trophic level.The intensity and mode of anthropogenic activities were the driving factors of the spatial patterns of lake water quality.It is recommended to control the impact of anthropogenic activities on the water quality of lakes in Inner Mongolia to improve lake ecological environment.These findings provide a more thorough understanding of the driving mechanism of the spatial patterns of water quality in lakes of Inner Mongolia,which can be used to develop strategies for lake ecosystem protection and water resources management in this region.

Characterization of Water Quality in Xiao Xingkai Lake:Implications for Trophic Status and Management

Increasing cases of lake eutrophication globally have raised concerns among stakeholders,and particularly in China.Evaluating the causes of eutrophication in waterways is essential for effective pollution prevention and control.Xiao Xingkai Lake is part of and connected to Xingkai(Khanka)Lake,a boundary lake between China and Russia.In this study,we investigated the spatio-temporal variabilities in water quality(i.e.,dissolved oxygen(DO),total nitrogen(TN),total phosphorus(TP),chemical oxygen demand(CODMn)and ammonium-nitrogen(NH4+-N))in Xiao Xingkai Lake,from 2012 to 2014,after which a Trophic Level Index was used to evaluate trophic status,in addition to the factors influencing water quality variation in the lake.The DO,TN,TP,CODMn and NH4+-N concentrations were 0.44-15.57,0.16-5.11,0.01-0.45,0.16-48.31,and 0.19-0.78 mg/L,respectively.Compared to the Environmental Quality Standards for surface water(GB 3838-2002)in China,the lake transitioned to an oligotrophic status in 2013 and 2014 from a mesotrophic status in 2012,TN and TP concentrations were the key factors influencing water quality of Xiao Xingkai Lake.Non-para-metric test results showed that sampling time and sites had significant effects on water quality.Water quality was worse in summer and in tourism and aquaculture areas,followed by agricultural drainage areas.Furthermore,lake water trophic status fluctuated between medium eutrophic and light eutrophic status from September 2012 to September 2014,and was negatively correlated with water level.Water quality in tourism and aquaculture sites were medium eutrophic,while in agricultural areas were light eutrophic.According to the results,high water-level fluctuations and anthropogenic activities were the key factor driving variability in physicochemical parameters associated with water quality in Xiao Xingkai Lake.

Characteristics of dissolved organic matter in lakes with different eutrophic levels in southeastern Hubei Province,China

Dissolved organic matter(DOM)plays a crucial role in both the carbon cycle and geochemical cycles of other nutrient elements,which is of importance to the management and protection of the aquatic environments.To achieve a more comprehensive understanding the characteristics of DOM in the Changjiang(Yangtze)River basin,water samples from four natural lakes(Xiandao,Baoan,Daye,and Qingshan)in southeastern Hubei Province in China with different eutrophication levels were collected and analyzed.The optical characteristics were analyzed using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry and excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy coupled with parallel factor analysis.The results show that:(1)two humic-like components(C1 and C2)and two protein-like substances(C3 and C4)of DOM were identified in all waterbodies;(2)C3 originated primarily from the degradation of microalgae and contributed substantially to humic-like components during transformation.C4 was widely present in the Changjiang River basin and its formation was related to microbial activity,rather than algal blooms or seasons.Influenced by the water mixing,the protein-like components were more likely to be transformed by microorganism,whereas humic-like components were more easily to be photobleached;(3)the concentration of DOM and the fluorescence intensity of humic-like components gradually increased with rising lake eutrophication levels.With respect to protein-like components,only C3 showed changes along the eutrophication gradients;(4)DOM showed a high affinity with permanganate index(COD Mn)and chlorophyll a(chl a)while the relationship was variable with phosphorus.This study helps us systematically understand the DOM characteristics,microbial activities,and pollutant transformation in the Changjiang River basin and provides reference to the ecological restoration of aquatic environments.

Local-scale patterns of genetic variation in coexisting floating-leaved Nymphoides peltata and submerged Myriophyllum spicatum in Donghu Lake

Coexisting floating-leaved and submerged plants experience similar environmental changes but may evolve different patterns of genetic variation.To compare local-scale genetic variation,we collected samples of floating-leaved Nymphoides peltata and submerged Myriophyllum spicatum coexisting in a disturbed urban lake in China.At the subpopulation level,using microsatellites,M.spicatum had higher clonal diversity than N.peltata.M.spicatum had 28.4%multilocus genotypes(MLGs)shared between subpopulations,but N.peltata had only one MLG shared between two adjacent subpopulations.N.peltata displayed more genetic variation between subpopulations than within subpopulations,but the reverse was true for M.spicatum.Principal components and Bayesian cluster analyses showed that individuals from each subpopulation of N.peltata tended to have relatively close genetic relationships.For M.spicatum,individuals from each subpopulation were genetically scattered with those from other subpopulations.Our results imply that in unpredictable adverse environments M.spicatum may be less subjected to local-deme extinction than N.peltata because of genetically diverse clones at the subpopulation level.This characteristic means that following adverse events,M.spicatum may rapidly restore subpopulation distributions via recolonization and intense gene flow among subpopulations.

Most probable transition paths in eutrophicated lake ecosystem under Gaussian white noise and periodic force

The effects of stochastic perturbations and periodic excitations on the eutrophicated lake ecosystem are explored.Unlike the existing work in detecting early warning signals,this paper presents the most probable transition paths to characterize the regime shifts.The most probable transition paths are obtained by minimizing the Freidlin-Wentzell(FW)action functional and Onsager-Machlup(OM)action functional,respectively.The most probable path shows the movement trend of the lake eutrophication system under noise excitation,and describes the global transition behavior of the system.Under the excitation of Gaussian noise,the results show that the stability of the eutrophic state and the oligotrophic state has different results from two perspectives of potential well and the most probable transition paths.Under the excitation of Gaussian white noise and periodic force,we find that the transition occurs near the nearest distance between the stable periodic solution and the unstable periodic solution.

Stoichiometric flexibility regulates the co-metabolism effect during organic carbon mineralization in eutrophic lacustrine sediments

Several studies have suggested the pivotal roles of eutrophic lakes in carbon(C)cycling at regional and global scales.However,how the co-metabolism effect on lake sediment organic carbon(OC)mineralization changes in response to integrated inputs of labile OC and nutrients is poorly understood.This knowledge gap hinders our ability to predict the carbon sequestration potential in eutrophic lakes.Therefore,a 45-day microcosm experiment was conducted to examine the dominant mechanisms that underpin the co-metabolism response to the inputs of labile C and nutrients in lacustrine sediments.Results indicate that the labile C addition caused a rapid increase in the positive co-metabolism effect during the initial stage of incubation,and the co-metabolism effect was positively correlated with the C input level.The positive co-metabolism effect was consistently higher under high C input,which was 152%higher than that under low C input.The higherβ-glucosidase activity after nutrient addition,which,in turn,promoted the OC mineralization in sediments.In addition different impacts of nutrients on the co-metabolism effect under different C inputs were observed.Compared with the low nutrient treatments,the largest co-metabolism effect under high C with high nutrient treatment was observed by the end of the incubation.In the high C treatment,the intensity of the co-metabolism effect(CE)under high nitrogen treatment was 1.88 times higher than that under low nitrogen condition.However,in the low C treatment,the amount of nitrogen had limited impact on co-metabolism effect.Our study thus proved that the microorganisms obviously regulate sediment OC turnover via stoichiometric flexibility to maintain a balance between resources and microbial requirements,which is meaningful for evaluating the OC budget and lake eutrophication management in lacustrine sediments.

Linkage between water soluble organic matter and bacterial community in sediment from a shallow, eutrophic lake, Lake Chaohu, China

Lacustrine sediment played important roles in migration and transformation of its water soluble organic matter(WSOM), and the source and composition of WSOM would affect water trophic status and the fate of pollutants. However, we know little about the pathway of WSOM transformation and its driving bacterial communities in lacustrine sediment. In the present study, we investigated the spatial distribution patterns of sediment WSOM and its fluorescent fractions across Lake Chaohu using fluorescence spectroscopy, and explored WSOM compositional structure through our proposed calculated ratios. In addition, we also analyzed sediment bacterial community using Illumina sequencing technology, and probed the possible pathway of sediment WSOM transformation under the mediate of indigenous bacteria. Our results showed that the inflowing rivers affected the spatial distribution patterns of WSOM and its five fractions(including tyrosine-, tryptophan-, fulvic acid-, humic acid-like substances and soluble microbial productions), and sediment WSOM originated from fresh algae detritus or bacterial sources. In parallel, we also found that Proteobacteria(mainly γ-Proteobacteria and δ-Proteobacteria), Firmicutes(mainly Bacilli), Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes and Actinobacteria dominate sediment bacterial community. Furthermore, these dominant bacteria triggered sediment WSOM transformation, specifically, the humic acid-like substances could be converted into fulvic acid-like substances, and further degraded into aromatic protein-like and SMP substances. In addition, our proposed ratios(P-L:H-L, Ar-P:SMP and H-L ratio), as supplementary tool, were effective to reveal WSOM composition structure. These results figured out possible pathway of WSOM transformation, and revealed its microbial mechanism in lacustrine sediment.