Environmental Ecological Response to Increasing Water Temperature in the Daya Bay, Southern China in 1982-2012

The increase of water temperature, due to thermal discharges from two nuclear power stations, was one of the most significant environmental changes since 1982 in the Daya Bay, located in the north of the South China Sea. This study investigates the long-term (1982-2012) environmental changes in Daya Bay in response to the increase of water temperature, via comprehensively interpreting and analyzing both satellite and in situ observations along with previous data. The results show that: 1) salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nutrients had been enhanced after the thermal discharges started in 1994;2) the concentration of Chl-a increased while the net-phytoplankton abundance decreased;3) diversity of the phytoplankton community had decreased;4) fishery production had declined;and 5) frequency of Harmful Algal Bloom occurrence had increased. Satellite images show clearly that a thermal plume from the power stations extended toward the interior of Daya Bay, and that surface temperature of the seawater increased as one approached the power stations. The analysis suggests that the thermal water discharged from the two power stations was a driver of the ecosystem’s change in Daya Bay. Several factors, including nutrients, salinity, DO, and COD, varied according to the increase of water temperature. These factors affected the water quality, Chl-a, and phytoplankton in the short term and impaired aquatic organisms and the whole ecosystem in the long term.

Environmental Drivers of Temporal and Spatial Fluctuations of Mesozooplankton Community in Daya Bay, Northern South China Sea

The response of zooplankton to the ecological environment in Daya Bay is unclear under the influence of both climate changes and anthropogenic activities on a seasonal to inter-annual scale.Based on monthly surveys and historical data,we found the zooplankton community had changed temporally and spatially.A total of 134 species was recorded during the study,and copepods dominated numerically in terms of diversity and abundance.Both copepods and cladocerans were the main contributors to zooplankton abundance.The community structure of zooplankton was temporally classified into the warm and cold groups,and spatially into the three groups located in the marine cage-culture area(MCCA),the outflow of nuclear power plants(ONPP)and unpolluted waters(UPW).The zooplankton was characterized by low biomass(dry weight),high diversity and abundance in the warm period in contrast to that in the cold period.Compared with the other two groups,the MCCA group of zooplankton showed high abundance,low diversity and biomass.Variations in dominant species were closely related to temperature,salinity and chlorophyll a concentration.Species diversity and dry weight decreased in comparison with 30 years ago,while zooplankton abundance increased.The seasonal variation in zooplankton was affected mainly by temperature that was controlled by monsoon,while the spatial difference in the community structure was probably due to eutrophication in the MCCA and thermal water discharge from ONPP.The zooplankton community is undergoing great changes with the tendency of miniaturization and gelatinization in recent 30 years in Daya Bay.