Nitrogen addition effect overrides warming effect on dissolved CO2 and phytoplankton structure in shallow lakes

Danni Yuan; Y Jun Xu; Shiwang Ma; Jingquan Le; Kairui Zhang; Rongli Miao; Siyue Li

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2023.120437

Nitrogen addition effect overrides warming effect on dissolved CO₂ and phytoplankton structure in shallow lakes

Water Res. 2023 Oct 1:244:120437. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120437. Epub 2023 Aug 1.

Authors

Danni Yuan¹, Y Jun Xu², Shiwang Ma¹, Jingquan Le¹, Kairui Zhang¹, Rongli Miao³, Siyue Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Ecology and Biological Engineering, Institute of Changjiang Water Environment and Ecological Security, Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Novel Reactor and Green Chemical Technology, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China.
² School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA; Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.
³ Hydrobiological Data Analysis Center, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
⁴ School of Environmental Ecology and Biological Engineering, Institute of Changjiang Water Environment and Ecological Security, Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Novel Reactor and Green Chemical Technology, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China. Electronic address: syli2006@163.com.

PMID: 37556989
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120437

Abstract

Shallow lakes are numerous in all climate zones, but our knowledge about their dissolved carbon dioxide (CO₂) response to future climate change and nutrient enrichment is rather limited. Here we performed a mesocosm experiment with four treatments to investigate how warming and nitrogen addition will impact the partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) and phytoplankton community individually and combined. We found that warming alone had no significant effect on pCO₂, while nitrogen addition increased pCO₂ significantly. The combined effects of nitrogen addition and warming on pCO₂ level were prevalent, indicating that eutrophic shallow lakes would be double-jeopardized in the future climate. Warming and nitrogen addition together also showed to have changed the phytoplankton community structure, suggesting a potential shifting of biological system in shallow lakes under changing climate. These findings highlight the importance of reducing nitrogen pollution to shallow lake systems for sustainable development goal.

Keywords: Eutrophication; Mesocosm system; Phytoplankton; Warming; pCO(2).

MeSH terms

Carbon Dioxide
China
Eutrophication
Lakes*
Nitrogen
Phytoplankton*

Substances

Carbon Dioxide
Nitrogen