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Diatom community succession in the recent history of a eutrophic Yunnan Plateau lake, Lake Dianchi, in subtropical China

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Abstract

Fish introduction, eutrophication and disappearance of aquatic vegetation are important disturbances of aquatic ecosystems, especially in plateau lakes, which are generally considered to be very vulnerable. Fish were introduced to Lake Dianchi, a eutrophic plateau lake in southwest China, in the late 1950s and 1970s. After the introduction, invasive fish became the dominant species, and the total fish yield increased. Meanwhile, the trophic level of Lake Dianchi had a tendency to increase in the past decades because of the increases in human activities in the watershed area. In addition, the area of aquatic vegetation decreased from more than 90 to 1.8% of the lake area from the 1950s to 2000. This study investigated the effects of fish introduction, eutrophication and aquatic vegetation on the diatom community of Lake Dianchi by examining the changes of microfossil diatom assemblage and abundance. Results showed that the absolute abundance and diatom assemblages changed after fish were introduced. The endemic species, Cyclotella rohomboideo-elliptica, disappeared with the introduction of fish and increasing trophic levels after 1958. Fragilaria crotonensis entered into the lake with the introduction of fish and gradually thrived in the lake after 1958. Diatom species numbers also decreased gradually from 21 to 9 from the past to present. Epiphytic diatoms disappeared with the decrease of aquatic vegetation after 1985. Our study indicated that eutrophication was the most important process determining diatom abundance, and fish introduction was a secondary process determining diatom abundance, while aquatic vegetation had a more important role in structuring the diatom community in this eutrophic plateau lake.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2008CB418103), projects of the National Sciences and Foundation of China (grant nos. 40602039, 40401064 and 40702029) and a project of CAS (KZCX1-YW-14). Special thanks are extended to Dr. Lu Zhang and Xiayun Xiao for their help. Dr. Shigeo Tsujimura and two anonymous referees are acknowledged for their helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environments, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 210008, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi-jun Gong, Yan-ling Li & Ji Shen

  2. Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430072, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Ping Xie

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  1. Zhi-jun Gong
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  2. Yan-ling Li
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Correspondence to Yan-ling Li.

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Gong, Zj., Li, Yl., Shen, J. et al. Diatom community succession in the recent history of a eutrophic Yunnan Plateau lake, Lake Dianchi, in subtropical China. Limnology 10, 247–253 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-009-0282-8

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