Dissolved Oxygen and Water Temperature Drive Vertical Spatiotemporal Variation of Phytoplankton Community: Evidence from the Largest Diversion Water Source Area

Zhenzhen Cui; Wanli Gao; Yuying Li; Wanping Wang; Hongtian Wang; Han Liu; Panpan Fan; Nicola Fohrer; Naicheng Wu

doi:10.3390/ijerph20054307

Dissolved Oxygen and Water Temperature Drive Vertical Spatiotemporal Variation of Phytoplankton Community: Evidence from the Largest Diversion Water Source Area

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 28;20(5):4307. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20054307.

Authors

Zhenzhen Cui¹, Wanli Gao¹, Yuying Li¹, Wanping Wang¹, Hongtian Wang¹, Han Liu¹, Panpan Fan^{1

2}, Nicola Fohrer^{1

3}, Naicheng Wu^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ International Joint Laboratory of Watershed Ecological Security and Collaborative Innovation Center of Water Security for Water Source Region of Middle Route Project of South-North Water Diversion in Henan Province, College of Water Resource and Environment Engineering, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang 473061, China.
² College of Water Resources, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China.
³ Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Kiel University, 24098 Kiel, Germany.

Abstract

In order to study the vertical distribution characteristics of phytoplankton in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, the water source of the Middle Route Project of the South-North Water Diversion, seven sampling sites were set up in the Reservoir for quarterly sampling from 2017 to 2019, and water environment surveys were conducted simultaneously. The results showed that 157 species (including varieties) were identified, belonging to 9 phyla and 88 genera. In terms of species richness, Chlorophyta had the largest number of species, accounting for 39.49% of the total species. The Bacillariophyta and Cyanobacteria accounted for 28.03% and 13.38% of the total species, respectively. From the whole Danjiangkou Reservoir, the total phytoplankton abundance varied from 0.09 × 10² to 20.01 × 10⁶ cells/L. In the vertical distribution, phytoplankton were mainly observed in the surface-thermospheric layer (I-II layer) and the bottom layer, while the Shannon-Wiener index showed a trend of gradually decreasing from the I-V layer. The Surfer model analysis showed that there was no significant stratification in the Q site's water temperature (WT) and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in the water diversion area during the dynamic water diversion process. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that DO, WT, pH, electrical conductivity (Cond), chemical oxygen demand (COD_Mn), total phosphorus (TP), ammonia nitrogen (NH₄⁺-N), and total nitrogen (TN) had significant effects on the vertical distribution of phytoplankton (p < 0.05). A partial Mantel analysis showed that the vertical distribution of the phytoplankton community was related to WT, and the phytoplankton community structure at the other sites, except for Heijizui (H) and Langhekou (L), was affected by DO. This study has positive significance for exploring the vertical distribution characteristics of a phytoplankton community in a deep-water dynamic water diversion reservoir.

Keywords: Danjiangkou Reservoir; Surfer model; environmental factors; phytoplankton community structure; vertical distribution.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Nitrogen / analysis
Oxygen
Phytoplankton*
Temperature
Water*

Substances

Water
Oxygen
Nitrogen

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding