Impact assessment of climate change and human activities on annual highest water level of Taihu Lake

The annual highest water level of Taihu Lake （Zm） is very significant for flood management in the Taihu Basin. This paper first describes the inter-annual and intra-annual traits of Zm from 1956 to 2000. Then, using the Mann-Kenall （MK） and Spearman （SP） nonparametric tests, the long-term change trends of area precipitation and pan evaporation in the Taihu Basin are determined. Meanwhile, using the Morlet wavelet transformation, the fluctuation patterns and change points of precipitation and pan evaporation are analyzed. Also, human activities in the Taihu Basin are described, including land use change and hydraulic project construction. Finally, the relationship between Zm, the water level of Taihu Lake 30 days prior to the day of Zm （Z0）, and the 30-day total precipitation and pan evaporation prior to the day of Zm （P and E0, respectively） is described based on multi-linear regression equations. The relative influence of climate change and human activities on the change of Zm is quantitatively ascertained. The results demonstrate that： （1） Zm was distinctly higher during the 1980-2000 period than during the 1956-1979 period, and the 30 days prior to the day of Zm are the key phase influencing Zm every year; （2） P increased significantly at a confidence level of 95% during the 1956-2000 period, while the reverse was true for E0; （3） The relationship between Zm, P and E0 distinctly changed after 1980; （4） Climate change and human activities together caused frequent occurrences of high Zm after 1980; （5） Climate change caused a substantially greater Zm difference between the 1956-1979 and 1980-2000 periods than human activities. Climate change, as represented by P and E0, was the dominant factor raising Zm, with a relative influence ratio of 83.6%, while human activities had a smaller influence ratio of 16.4%.

Water Security-based Hydrological Regime Assessment Method for Lakes with Extreme Seasonal Water Level Fluctuations：A Case Study of Poyang Lake,China

Extreme seasonal water level fluctuations characterize natural floodplain lakes in monsoon regions, which are crucial for ensuring lake water security, including flood prevention water supply and health of aquatic ecosystem. In order to achieve this goal, we established a hydrological regime assessment method based on a set of hydrological indicators for lakes with heavy seasonal water level fluctuations. The results suggest that time-sensitive hydrological indicators and specific time scales for various water security aspects must be considered. We discovered that it is more practical and meaningful to combine the water level classification derived from statistical analyses with characteristic hydrological values linked to water security. The case study of Poyang Lake results show that there are no discernable trends of Poyang Lake water regime status over the last 35 years, and the two periods of poor status are in accordance with climate variation in the lake basin area. Scholars and policy makers should focus on both floods and droughts, which are the main water security problems for Poyang Lake. It is hoped that this multi-scale and multi-element hydrological regime assessment method will provide new guidelines and methods for other international scholars of river and lake water assessment.

Relationship Between Changes of River-lake Networks and Water Levels in Typical Regions of Taihu Lake Basin,China

The typical regions of the Taihu Lake Basin,China,were selected to analyze the variation characteristics of river-lake networks under intensive human activities.The characteristics of the fractal dimension of river networks and lakes for different periods were investigated and the influences of river system evolution on water level changes were further explored through the comparison of their fractal characters.The results are as follows:1) River network development of the study area is becoming more monotonous and more simple;the number of lakes is reducing significantly,and the water surface ratio has dropped significantly since the 1980s.2) The box dimension of the river networks in all the cities of the study area decreased slowly from the 1960s to the 1980s,while the decrease was significant from the 1980s to the 2000s.The variations of lake correlation dimension are similar to those of the river network box dimensions.This is unfavorable for the storage capacity of the river networks and lakes.3) The Hurst exponents of water levels were all between 0.5 and 1.0 from the 1960s to the 1980s,while decreased in the 2000s,indicating the decline in persistence and increase in the complexity of water level series.The paper draws a conclusion that the relationship between the fractal dimension of river-lake networks and the Hurst exponents of the water level series can reveal the impacts of river system changes on flood disasters to some extent:the disappearance of river networks and lakes will increase the possibility of flood occurrence.

Simulation of the water level influence on the difference within the water-tube tiltmeter in Shuangyang Lake

This article analyzes the relationship between the water level and the water-tube tilting in Shuangyang lake,based on the differential deformation features reflected by the NS and EW components of the water-tube tiltmeter.The results show a good spatiotemporal consistency between the variation of water level and the NS tilt component,which is considered to be affected by the magnitude and duration of the water level variation in Shuangyang Lake.The article uses Landsat remote sensing image data to extract the water boundary of Shuan-gyang Lake,and takes advantage of the finite element numerical simulation method to build three-dimensional models for different geological structural conditions of the Shuangyang seismostation.The simulation results show that when the underground medium is granite,the effect of water level variation on the vertical displacement of the surface is non-directional.With a 50-m soil layer in Model 2,the simulated NS tilt variation is equivalent to the actual observed water-tube tiltmeter NS component when the water level variation is 0.44 m and 0.8m.When the variation of water level reaches 2.0m,the simulation result of the NS component is 79.6 ms,which is slightly larger than the observed result of 60.32 ms.However,the simulation results show that the variation of the EW component is significantly smaller than that of the NS one.Due to the fact that the Shuan-gyang lake is long in the NS direction and short in the EW direction,the existence of the soil layer tends to generate ground deformation along the NS direction in the vicinity of the lake after the increase of water level,thereby resulting in the difference of the ground deformation in the two directions.

The World’s Largest Lakes Water Level Changes in the Context of Global Warming

The article is focused on the assessment of changes in the average annual water levels of large lakes of the planet in the changing climate conditions characteristic of the recent decades. Eight large lakes, i.e.Baikal, Balkhash, Superior, Issyk-Kul, Ladoga, Onega, Ontario, and Erie, located on the territory of Eurasia and North America, were chosen as the research objects. They were selected because of the availability of a long-term observations series of the water level. As is known, long-term changes in the lakes water level result from variation in the water volume. The latter depends on the?ratios between the water balance components of the lake that have developed during a given year, which, in turn, reflect the climatic conditions of the respective years. The features of the water balance structure of the above-mentioned?lakes and the intra-annual course of the water level are considered. The available long-term records of observational data on all selected lakes and their stations were divided into two periods: from 1960 to 1979 (the period of stationary climatic situation) and from 1980 to 2008 (the period of non-stationary climatic situation). The homogeneity and significance of trends in the long-term water level series of records have been estimated. It has been established that over the second period the nature and magnitude of the lakes water levels variations differ significantly. For lakes Balkhash, Issyk-Kul, Ladoga, Superior, and Erie, there is a general tendency for a decrease in water levels. For the remaining three lakes (Baikal, Onega, and Ontario), the opposite tendency has been noted: the levels of these lakes increased. Quantitatively, the range of changes in water levels on the lakes in question over the period of 1980-2008 ranged from -4 cm to +26 cm.

A general multi-objective programming model for minimum ecological flow or water level of inland water bodies

Assessment of ecological flow or water level for water bodies is important for the protection of de- graded or degrading ecosystems caused by water shortage in arid regions, and it has become a key issue in water resources planning. In the past several decades, many methods have been proposed to assess ecological flow for rivers and ecological water level for lakes or wetlands. To balance water uses by human and ecosystems, we proposed a general multi-objective programming model to determine minimum ecological flow or water level for inland water bodies, where two objectives are water index for human and habitat index for ecosystems, respectively Using the weighted sum method for multi-objective optimization, minimum ecological flow or water level can be determined from the breakpoint in the water index-habitat index curve, which is similar to the slope method to de- termine minimum ecological flow from wetted perimeter-discharge curve. However, the general multi-objective programming model is superior to the slope method in its physical meaning and calculation method. This model provides a general analysis method for ecological water uses of different inland water bodies, and can be used to define minimum ecological flow or water level by choosing appropriate water and habitat indices. Several com- monly used flow or water level assessment methods were found to be special cases of the general model, including the wetted perimeter method and the multi-objective physical habitat simulation method for ecological river flow, the inundated forest width method for regeneration flow of floodplain forest and the lake surface area method for eco- logical lake level. These methods were applied to determine minimum ecological flow or water level for two repre- sentative rivers and a lake in northern Xinjiang of China, including minimum ecological flow for the Ertix River, minimum regeneration flow for floodplain forest along the midstream of Kaxgar River, and minimum ecological lake level for the Ebinur Lake. The results illustrated the versatility of the general model, and can provide references for water resources planning and ecosystem protection for these rivers and lake.

Shallow sub-lakes are essential for sustaining the successful wintering of waterbirds in Poyang Lake,China

For migratory waterbirds,the quality of wintering habitat is related to spring migration and successful breeding in the next year.The availability of food resources in the habitat is critical and varies within water levels.Although the water-level fluctuations in Poyang Lake have been extremely variable interannually in recent years,the wintering waterbird populations have remained relatively stable.Hence,the mechanism of maintaining the stability is worth exploring.This study aimed to compare the distribution of vegetation and herbivorous wa-terbirds in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017,focusing on three shallow sub-lakes and one main lake are.The results showed that the emergence of tubers and the growth of Carex spp.provided a continuous food supply and habitat for wintering waterbirds with a gradual decline in the water level.Shallow sub-lakes supported almost all of the tuber-eating waterbirds(1.42-1.62×10^(5))and most geese(1.34-1.53×10^(6)).However,the main lake area,covered with Persicaria hydropiper,did not provide adequate and accessible food.This resulted in almost no distribution of tuber-eating waterbirds,with only a few geese congregating in early winter.Our results demonstrated that the shallow sub-lakes under human control provided a different environment from the main lake and are key to sustaining the successful wintering of hundreds of thousands of migratory waterbirds in Poyang Lake.Therefore,we recommend refining the anthropogenic management of the shallow sub-lakes to regulate the water level to ensure the carrying capacity of Poyang Lake.

Elevation of basal lacustrine sediments along the mid-lower reaches of the Yangtze River and its implications for the reconstruction of Holocene water levels

The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,a primary region for freshwater lakes in China,have undergone significant transformations throughout the Holocene.These changes,driven by factors such as sea-level rise,climate change,and human activities,have led to the progressive elevation of water levels in this area.As a result,a floodplain has emerged,characterized by the formation of numerous shallow lakes along the river course.However,the pattern of water-level changes in the main channel of the Yangtze River during the Holocene remains unclear.This gap in knowledge poses challenges for understanding sediment transport dynamics,the interactions between the river and its adjacent lakes,and the prevention and control of flood disasters in the Yangtze River basin.To shed light on these issues,our study compiled data on the surface elevation and water depth of 81 lakes in the mid-lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin.Additionally,we analyzed historical water-level records from the 1900s to the 1970s at eight gauging stations from Shashi to Jiangyin along the river’s main stream.Our findings reveal that,particularly along the Jingjiang section,the basal elevation of most lakes is lower than the Yangtze River’s water level during the dry season.Conversely,the water level of the main stream exceeds that of both the floodplain and the lakes enclosed by the Jingjiang embankment.In the tidal reach,especially within the Taihu Lake basin,the basal elevation of lakes typically falls below sea level.Meanwhile,lakes located along the section from Chenglingji to Wuhu exhibit basal elevations that correspond with the Yangtze River’s annual average and dry season water levels.Given the widespread presence of lakes along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,our study introduces a new proxy for reconstructing the mean water level of the mid-lower Yangtze River in the Holocene.By analyzing sediments from Nanyi Lake and Chenyao Lake in the lower Yangtze River,we attempted to reconstruct the water level of the Yangtze River’s main channel since 8 ka BP.

Potential influence of water level changes on energy flows in a lake food web

Large seasonal water-level fluctuations may influence isotopic signatures of primary producers and the types and amounts of these potential food sources accessible to aquatic fauna of Poyang Lake,the largest freshwater lake in China.In this study,the isotopic signatures of primary producers and consumers were determined,stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis and mixing models were combined to investigate the influence of water levels on the diet and isotopic composition of Poyang Lake fish and invertebrates.Five potential food sources (seston,benthic organic matter,aquatic macrophytes,attached algae,and terrestrial plants),4 species of invertebrates,and 10 species of fish were collected from the lake area during dry and wet seasons between January 2009 and April 2010.The δ 13C values of invertebrates and most fish were within the range of δ 13C values of the potential food sources for both seasons.The δ 13C values of invertebrates and most fish were lower in the dry season than in the wet season,whereas the δ 15N values exhibited different patterns for different species.Mixing models indicated that the most important food sources for common lake fauna were seston in the dry season and aquatic macrophytes and terrestrial plants in the wet season.The fauna were more omnivorous in the wet season than in the dry season.The food web dynamics of Poyang Lake are strongly influenced by changes in the abundance and accessibility of different basal food sources that occur because of seasonal flood pulses.The trophic links within the aquatic communities of Poyang Lake are modified by water-level fluctuations.

Influence of river-lake isolation on the water level variations of Caizi Lake, lower reach of the Yangtze River

In order to explore the water level variations of Caizi Lake under river-lake isolation,the monthly water level of the Chefuling station in Caizi Lake from 1989 to 2018 and the daily water level,rainfall and flow of local hydrological stations in 2018 were analyzed by using the Mann-Kendall trend test and wavelet analysis.Results showed that the difference of the average water level of Caizi Lake between the flood and dry seasons was 3.34 m,with a multi-year average water level of 10.42 m above sea level.The first and second main periods of the water level of Caizi Lake were 128 and 18 months,respectively,with 4 and 29"up-down"cycles,respectively.From 2018,the next 3-4 years were likely to be the low water level period.The water level of Caizi Lake was significantly correlated with that of the Anqing hydrological station of the Yangtze River(r=0.824,P<0.01).In addition,the current hydrological staging of Caizi Lake was about 30 days behind than before the sluice was built.Under the dual influences of the river-lake isolation and the Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion Project(YHWD),the hydrological regime change of Caizi Lake and its eco-environmental effect needed long-term monitoring and research.

Effect of Three Gorges Dam on Poyang Lake water level at daily scale based on machine learning

Lake water level is an essential indicator of environmental changes caused by natural and human factors.The water level of Poyang Lake,the largest freshwater lake in China,has exhibited a dramatic variation for the past few years,especially after the completion of the Three Gorges Dam(TGD).However,there is a lack of more accurate assessment of the effect of the TGD on the Poyang Lake water level(PLWL)at finer temporal scales(e.g.,the daily scale).Here,we used three machine learning models,namely,an Artificial Neural Network(ANN),a Nonlinear Autoregressive model with exogenous input(NARX),and a Gated Recurrent Unit(GRU),to simulate the daily lake level during 2003-2016.We found that machine learning models with historical memory(i.e.,the GRU model)are more suitable for simulating the PLWL under the influence of the TGD.The GRU-based results show that the lake level is significantly affected by the TGD regulation in the different operation stages and in different periods.Although the TGD has had a slight but not very significant impact on the yearly decline of the PLWL,the blocking or releasing of water at the TGD at certain moments has caused large changes in the lake level.This machine-learning-based study sheds light on the interactions between Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River regulated by the TGD.

Reconstructing Centennial-Scale Water Level of Large Pan-Arctic Lakes Using Machine Learning Methods

The pan-Arctic region has the largest number of lakes in the world,which is rather sensitive to changing climate.It is urgently needed to understand how these lakes were changing in the long term.However,there are few lakes with long-term historical monitoring of water level,understanding the hydrologic changes of pan-Arctic lakes over the past century requires the data reconstruction by state-of-art techniques.This study used machine learning algorithms to reconstruct the water level of pan-Arctic lakes on a centennial scale.It further investigated their relationship with long-term hydrological and climatic variables.Comparison of the reconstructed results by four different machine learning models shows that the extreme gradient boosting tree(XGBoost) is better than other three models.Overall,the centennial-scale reconstruction using the XGBoost model performs best for most study lakes.Based on the reconstructed results,we can observe that water level changes of several North American lakes are correlated with potential evapotranspiration,followed by precipitation,while the Eurasian lakes are more strongly associated with temperature and wet day frequency.The water level dynamics of pan-Arctic lakes could be largely attributed to Arctic Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation.This study is expected to advance our understanding of the pan-Arctic lake water level changes in the past century and to provide a feasible method for reconstructing the regional lake water level in the long term.

Water-Level Fluctuations of Urmia Lake: Relationship with the Long-Term Changes of Meteorological Variables (Solutions for Water-Crisis Management in Urmia Lake Basin)

Urmia Lake in northwest of Iran, through the recent years has been extremely faced with the water crisis. Climate variations and anthropogenic impacts could be two main affiliated factors in this regard. We considered the long term data series of precipitation, temperature and evaporation in monthly and yearly scales in order to compare to water-level values of Urmia Lake. The statistics approaches such as: standard deviation, trend analysis, T test, Pearson and Spearman correlations, liner regression are used to analyze all variables. The results released that the water-level of Urmia Lake along with the precipitation and temperature of the lake’s basin have experienced the periodic changes through 1961 to 2010, as there are some gradual dryness trends on the study area according to precipitation and temperature variations. Urmia Lake periodic water-level fluctuations show more significant correlation to temperature than the precipitation. Whiles, the water-level’s decreasing behavior especially through 1998 to 2010 is more harsh and different than the rate that is considered for precipitation’s decrease and temperature’s increase. Thus, there could be some anthropogenic factors in the basin which produced some supplementary causes to shrink Urmia Lake. Extracting the double precipitation over the basin through introducing and categorizing of atmospheric synoptic systems in order to cloud seeding operation could be one of urgent and innovative solutions to mitigate water crisis in the basin.

Groundwater contributions in water-salt balances of the lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert,China

Groundwater-fed lakes are essential for the ecology in arid and semiarid regions.As a typical arid region,the Badain Jaran Desert （BJD） is famous in the world for the presence of a large number of groundwater-fed saline lakes among the mega dunes.Based on the up to date geological surveys and observations,this study analyzed the groundwater contributions in water-salt balances of the lakes in the desert.We found different types of springs,including the sublacustrine springs that indicate an upward flow of groundwater under the lakebed.A simplified water balance model was developed to analyze the seasonal variations of water level in the Sumu Barun Jaran Lake,which revealed an approximately steady groundwater discharge in the lake and explained why the amplitude of seasonal changes in lake level is less than 0.5 m.In addition,a salt balance model was developed to evaluate the salt accumulations in the groundwater-fed lakes.The relative salt accumulation time is 800–7,000 years in typical saline lakes,which were estimated from the concentration of Cl-,indicating a long history evolution for the lakes in the BJD.Further researches are recommended to provide comprehensive investigations on the interactions between the lakes and groundwater in the BJD.

Growth of the Sayram Lake and retreat of its water-supplying glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains from 1972 to 2011

Inland lakes and alpine glaciers are important constituents of water resources in arid and semiarid regions. Understanding their variations is critical for both an accurate evaluation of the dynamic changes of water resources and the retrieval of climatic information. On the basis of earlier researches, this study investigated the growth of the Sayram Lake and the retreat of its water-supplying glaciers in the Tianshan Mountains using long-term sequenced remote sensing images. Our results show that over the past 40 years, the surface area and the water level of the lake has increased by 12.0±0.3 km2 and 2.8 m, respectively, and the area of its water-supplying glaciers has decreased continuously since the early 1970s with a total reduction of about–2.13±0.03 km2. Our study has indicative significance to the research of regional climate change.

Impacts of climate change and human activities on water resources in the Ebinur Lake Basin, Northwest China

Changing climatic conditions and extensive human activities have influenced the global water cycle.In recent years,significant changes in climate and land use have degraded the watershed ecosystem of the Ebinur Lake Basin in Xinjiang,Northwest China.In this paper,variations of runoff,temperature,precipitation,reference evapotranspiration,lake area,socio-economic water usage,groundwater level and water quality in the Ebinur Lake Basin from 1961 to 2015 were systematically analyzed by the Mann-Kendall test methods(M-K)mutation test,the cumulative levelling method,the climate-sensitive method and land-use change index.In addition,we evaluated the effects of human activities on land use change and water quality.The results reveal that there was a significant increase in temperature and precipitation from 1961 to 2015,despite a decrease in reference evapotranspiration.The Wenquan station was not significantly affected by human activities as it is situated at a higher altitude.Runoff at this station increased significantly with climate warming.In contrast,runoff at the Jinghe station was severely affected by numerous human activities.Runoff decreased without obvious fluctuations.The contributions of climate change to runoff variation at the Jinghe and Wenquan stations were 46.87%and 58.94%,respectively;and the contributions of human activities were 53.13%and 41.06%,respectively.Land-use patterns in the basin have changed significantly between 1990 and 2015:urban and rural constructed lands,saline-alkali land,bare land,cultivated land,and forest land have expanded,while areas under grassland,lake,ice/snow and river/channel have declined.Human activities have dramatically intensified land degradation and desertification.From 1961 to 2015,both the inflow into the Ebinur Lake and the area of the lake have declined year by year;groundwater levels have dropped significantly,and the water quality has deteriorated during the study period.In the oasis irrigation area below the runoff pass,human activities mainly influenced the utilization mode and quantity of water resources.Changes in the hydrology and quantity of water resources were driven primarily by the continuous expansion of cultivated land and oasis,as well as the growth of population and the construction of hydraulic engineering projects.After 2015,the effects of some ecological protection projects were observed.However,there was no obvious sign of ecological improvement in the basin,and some environmental problems continue to persist.On this basis,this study recommends that the expansion of oasis should be limited according to the carrying capacity of the local water bodies.Moreover,in order to ensure the ecological security of the basin,it is necessary to determine the optimal oasis area for sustainable development and improve the efficiency of water resources exploitation and utilization.

Cretaceous Sandbody Characters at Shallow-Water Lake Delta Front and the Sedimentary Dynamic Process Analysis in Songliao Basin,China

Based on the abundant information from drilling, cores, and logging, the influence of topography, size of rivers and lakes, climate changes and the lake level＇s fluctuation on the sandbodies at shallow-water delta front are systematically summarized and the sedimentary dynamic processes are analyzed. The interwell communication among the sandbodies and their planar distribution revealed from the hydrodynamic features of the development wells are integrated during the analysis. The fundamental requirements for the development of the shallow-water delta included flat topography and uniform subsiding rate. The delta plain was connected smoothly with the wide delta front and predelta, without the three-fold structure of topset, foreset, and bottomset as defined in the Gilbert Delta Model. Because of the weak fluvial effect and the lake energy is strong, the small and scattered shallow-water delta is destroyed by the scouring-backwashing, coastal current, and lake wave, resulting in the coastal sheet deposition. As the fluvial effect became stronger and the lake energy became weaker, the shape of the shallow-water deltas transferred from sheets to lumps and then branches.

THE HYDROLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND WATER BUDGET OF QINGHAI LAKE DRAINAGE BASIN

The rapid shrinkage of the surface area reflects the long-term deficit water budget of Qinghai Lake. Study of the yearly hydrology and meteorology in the lake catchment basin and the hydrologic factors as well as water budget led to the conclusion that evaporation exceeding the water input resulted in the drop of lake level, thai the obvious decrease of runoff to the lake and precipitation on the catchment accelerated the falling of lake level before 1987. and that increase of about 6.7% in rainfall on the whole basin will balance the lake’s water budget.

THE STUDY ON CLIMATIC CHANGES AND LAKE LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS OF OINGHAIB LAKE IN HOLOCENE

According to loess and palaeosol climatic record, field observation, analysis data and 14C dating, we discuss the climatic changes and the water level fluctuations of Qinghai Lake. It is pointed out that there were four relatively warm and moist stages in Qinghai Lake basin during the Holocene. They formed in the periods from 10,300 yr.B.P. to 8,500 yr.B.P., 7,000 yr.B.P. to 3,500 yr.B.P., 2,800 yr.B.P. to 2,000 yr.B.P. and from 1,300 yr.B.P. up to now. The climate in the Holocene optimum period, from 7,000 yr.B.P. to 3,500 yr.B.P., was much warmer and moister than that today. Polypodium plant grew luxuriantly around Qinghai Lake. The annual temperature was 2.5℃ higher than that today, but there was no forest at Qinghai Lake shore. It is found that there was a good relationship between precipitation and water level fluctuation. In warm and moist period water level was high and in the cold and dry period it was low in the Holocene. There were four high water level periods for Qinghai Lake in the

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.