Shallow lakes, sensitive to environmental changes due to low environmental carrying capacity, generally experience decreases in ecosystem function and even regime shifts after over-exploitation. Surface sediments of 18 shallow lakes in Yunnan were collected and analyzed to identify the spatial pattern and the influencing factors of cladoceran communities. The results showed that there was significant heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of cladocera in those lakes. For example, the cladoceran community was generally dominated by benthic taxa in alpine lakes, while there was a clear replacement of benthic cladocerans by planktonic ones with increasing nutrient levels across lakes from Southeast Yunnan. Altitude and total phosphorus were the main driving factors, which independently explained 22.0% and 7.7% of the change in cladocera communities, respectively. The altitude gradient and related changes in climate and catchment features were the main factors in structuring cladocerans for shallow lakes of Yunnan, while the anthropogenic impacts on cladoceran distribution was significant via the processes such as catchment development, pollutant input and macrophyte changes. Meanwhile, the interaction between elevation and total phosphorus explained 26.3% of the total variance in cladoceran community shift, indicating that the increase in human activity intensity in lakes at lower altitudes would have stronger impact on cladocerans through anthropogenic nutrient inputs.
浅水湖泊污染负荷能力较低,对环境变化敏感,过度开发会导致生态功能明显退化甚至发生稳态转变.本研究通过提取云南18个浅水湖泊的表层沉积物枝角类信息,识别枝角类群落的空间分布特征并甄别其群落构建的环境驱动因子.结果表明:表层沉积物枝角类群落的地理分布存在显著的空间差异,滇西北的枝角类群落以底栖物种占绝对优势,而随着营养水平的增加,滇东南湖泊枝角类优势物种由底栖型向浮游型转变.统计分析表明,海拔和水体总磷水平是驱动群落分布空间差异的关键环境因子,分别独立解释了枝角类群落变化的22.0%和7.7%,反映了海拔梯度及其指示的气候环境过程是控制枝角类群落空间分布的重要因子.同时枝角类群落随营养水平的变化出现差异性的结构特征,可能指示了流域开发、污染物输入、水生植被变化等人类活动扰动的综合影响.同时,海拔和总磷水平表现出显著的相互作用并解释了枝角类群落变化的26.3%,指示了云南地区的人类活动强度随着海拔梯度呈现显著的空间差异,并通过营养盐输入等过程调控了枝角类群落的结构特征.
Keywords: altitude; cladocera; nutrient level; regional heterogeneity; shallow lake.