A hydrodynamic and water quality modeling study of spatial and temporal patterns of phytoplankton growth in a stratified lake with buoyant incoming flow

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model was applied to Lake Paldang, a lake in South Korea that is stratified by incoming flows. The spatial and temporal patterns of phytoplankton growth in this lake were determined from the model. The model was calibrated and verified using data measured under different hydrological conditions. The model results were in reasonable agreement with the field measurements, in both the calibration and verification phases. The distributions of water quality and residence time in the lake and phytoplankton response to changes in nutrient loads were examined with the model, and the influence of the hydrodynamics on phytoplankton response was analyzed. The simulation results indicated that Lake Paldang is an essentially phosphorus-limited system, but that phytoplankton growth is limited by low water temperature and short residence time during the winter and the summer monsoon period, respectively. The results of sensitivity analyses also suggested that the hydrodynamics within the lake may have an indirect influence on phytoplankton responses to changes in the limiting nutrient loads, and that reducing phosphorus loading from Kyoungan Stream should be a high priority policy for controlling algal blooms during the pre- and post-monsoon periods. From this study, it was concluded that the three-dimensional water quality model incorporating hydrodynamic processes could successfully simulate phytoplankton response to changes in nutrient loads and that it could become a useful tool for identifying the essential factors determining phytoplankton growth and for developing the best management policy for algal blooms in Lake Paldang.     

Does biodiversity of estuarine phytoplankton depend on hydrology?

Phytoplankton growth in estuaries is controlled by factors such as flushing, salinity tolerance, light, nutrients and grazing. Here, we show that biodiversity of estuarine phytoplankton is related to flushing, and illustrate this for some European estuaries.The implications for the definition of reference conditions for quality elements in estuaries of different types are examined, leading to the conclusion that constraints on the number of estuarine and coastal types that may be defined for management purposes require that quality classes take into account natural variability within types, in order to be ecologically meaningful. We develop a screening model to predict the growth rate required for a phytoplankton species to be present under different flushing conditions and apply it to estuaries in the EU and US to show how changes in physical forcing may alter biodiversity. Additional results are presented on the consequences for eutrophication, showing that changes in residence time may interact with species-specific nutrient uptake rates to cause shifts in species composition, potentially leading to effects such as harmful algal blooms.We discuss applications for integrated coastal zone management, and propose an approach to normalization of estuarine phytoplankton composition as regards species numbers.     

Exploitation and destabilization of a warm, freshwater ecosystem through engineered hydrological change

Exploitation of freshwater resources is having catastrophic effects on the ecological dynamics, stability, and quality of those water resources on a global scale, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Lake Kinneret, Israel (the Biblical Sea of Galilee), the only major natural freshwater lake in the Middle East, has been transformed functionally into a reservoir over the course of approximately 70 years of hydrological alterations aimed mostly at producing electrical power and increasing domestic and agricultural water supply. Historical changes in lake chemistry and biology were reconstructed using analysis of sedimentary nutrient content, stable and radioisotope composition, biochemical and morphological fossils from algae, remains of aquatic invertebrates, and chemical indices of past light regimes. Together, these paleolimnological analyses of the lake's bottom sediments revealed that this transformation has been accompanied by acceleration in the rate of eutrophication, as indicated by increased accumulation rates of phosphorus, nitrogen, organic matter, phytoplankton and bacterial pigments, and remains of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Substantial increases in these indices of eutrophication coincide with periods of increased water-level fluctuations and drainage of a major upstream wetland in the early to middle 20th century and suggest that management of the lake for increased water supply has degraded water quality to the point that ecosystem stability and sustainability are threatened. Such destabilization may be a model for eutrophication of freshwater lakes in other arid regions of the world in which management emphasizes water quantity over quality.     

Conservation of the African Great Lakes: A Limnological Perspective

The limnology of Lakes Malawi Tanganyika, and Victoria is discussed with the objective of examining how the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the lakes will determine the response of these ancient great lake ecosystems to human activities. Of the physical properties discussed, large dilution capacities and long flushing times can make the detection and removal of chemical pollutants in these lakes difficult. The outflows of all three lakes are small because of high evaporation losses, and as a result lake levels are responsive to climate changes that would alter evaporation:precipitation ratios. Increased nutrient input to these lakes will likely result in a decrease in the volume of oxygenated water and available fish habitat. Plankton community composition will also change, probably toward dominance by cyanobacteria. While the effects of eutrophication on fish production are difficult to predict, changes in plankton composition would almost certainly be accompanied by changes in fish community structure. Recent studies of water chemistry and plankton productivity in Lake Victoria provide evidence of possible eutrophication. Because land use has a diffuse but potentially large impact on these lakes, conservation strategies must take into account human activities within entire drainage basins. This requires cooperation between riparian countries and technological and financial input from the international community. An immediate need is the establishment of monitoring programs to determine the impact, real or potential, of human activities around the lakes.     

An optimization approach for sustainable release of e-flows for lake restoration and preservation: Model development and a case study of Baiyangdian Lake, China

In this paper, we describe the development of a model for the sustainable release of e-flows from the regional water resource infrastructure (e.g., reservoirs, rivers with available water) for lake restoration and preservation, and use the model in a case study of Baiyangdian Lake, China. First, we define the sustainable environmental flows (e-flows), with an emphasis on the ecological importance of temporal variation in factors such as water level (depth). By analyzing historical data on the suitable range of water levels in the lake, we evaluated fluctuations using canonical correspondence analysis and frequency distribution analysis. The temporal variations required by the ecosystem of the lake were also assessed. Based on this approach, we developed an optimization model for sustainable release of e-flows. We used the adaptive genetic algorithm approach to solve the model and determine the required release of e-flows. Scenario analysis then provided a range of potential management strategies for the e-flows. The optimal results are helpful to the lake managers to establish sustainable e-flow release schemes for the lake restoration and preservation.     

Conservation in Lake Tanganyika, with Special Reference to Underwater Parks

Lake Tanganyika is outstanding among lakes because of the intrinsic value of its fauna and the significance of its natural resources. Reconciliation of resource exploitation and conservation is essential because of changes in the lake environment caused by human activities. Important new initiatives to shape national environmental policies for the lake are taking place. Regional cooperation is required for major lakewide studies, especially in lake circulation and the prevention of pollution, and in adjustment of fisheries objectives to meet conservation as well as economic goals. Basic conservation aims proposed are (1) avoidance of gross changes in natural communities in the lake in general, and (2) retention of the fauna in some parts in an unexploited state, as in underwater parks. Early strategies suggested are the extension of four existing wildlife land parks further into the lake to form underwater parks, and reconnaissance of other potential park sites. Initial ecological and social surveys conducted from the four parks would provide baseline data for management. Underwater park boundaries should as far as possible be determined on an ecological basis to encompass entire local distributions of species populations. A case of alternative boundaries is examined for the Nsumbu Park. Other important planning considerations are the multi-use of parks in addition to fundamental conservation, such as tourism, sport fishing, and specific traditional lake and land uses. Regional cooperation between parks will be important for tourism.     

Impact of climate factors on cyanobacterial dynamics and their interactions with water quality in South Taihu Lake,China

Cyanobacterial bloom events in South Taihu Lake cause serious water quality problems and disturb aesthetic view of lake’s environment. In this study, correlations between cyanobacterial blooms and hydro-meteorological factors, including water quality, temperature and precipitation were investigated. Results demonstrated that South Taihu Lake was heavily affected by cyanobacteria and the proliferation of cyanobacteria due to variations in hydro-meteorological factors and water quality conditions. Water quality parameters, including COD, NH₃-N, TN and TP improved significantly since 2008 even at an elevated cyanobacterial bloom situation. Correlation analyses have shown that the development of cyanobacterial density and chlorophyll a concentration was sensitive to a wider temperature variation. The optimum temperature for cyanobacteria was 20°C, while extremely low and high temperatures were found to suppress their growth. Moreover, unusual rainfall patterns were measured during the study period (2003–2009), which showed an adverse impact on cyanobacterial development. Findings from this study suggested that seasonal lake’s water quality monitoring; suitable treatment of cyanobacterial blooms and strict policy implementation can solve the water quality issues in highly eutrophic lakes like Taihu.     

Control concept and countermeasures for shallow lakes’ eutrophication in China

Research on lake eutrophication in China began in the early 1970s, and many lakes in China are now known to be in meso-eutrophic status. Lake eutrophication has been showing a rapidly increasing trend since 2000. Investigations show that the main reasons for lake eutrophication include a fragile lake background environment, excessive nutrient loading into lakes, excessive human activities, ecological degeneration, weak environmental protection awareness, and lax lake management. Major mechanisms resulting from lake eutrophication include nutrient recycling imbalance, major changes in water chemistry (pH, oxygen, and carbon), lake ecosystem imbalance, and algal prevalence in lakes. Some concepts for controlling eutrophication should be persistently proposed, including lake catchment control, combination of pollutant source control with ecological restoration, protection of three important aspects (terrestrial ecology, lake coast zone, and submerged plant), and combination of lake management with regulation. Measures to control lake eutrophication should include pollution source control (i.e., optimize industrial structural adjustments in the lake catchment, reduce nitrogen and phosphorus emission amounts, and control endogenous pollution) and lake ecological restoration (i.e. establish a zone-lake buffer region and lakeside zone, protect regional vegetation, utilize hydrophytes in renovation technology); countermeasures for lake management should include implementing water quality management, identifying environmental and lake water goals, legislating and formulating laws and regulations to protect lakes, strengthening publicity and the education of people, increasing public awareness through participation in systems and mechanic innovations, establishing lake region management institutions, and ensuring implementation of governance and management measures.     

Priority effects and species sorting in a long paleoecological record of repeated community assembly through time

We studied the relative roles of environmental species sorting and priority effects in the assembly of ecological communities on long time scales, by analyzing community turnover of water fleas (Daphnia) in response to strong and recurrent environmental change in a fluctuating tropical lake. During the past 1800 years, Lake Naivasha (Kenya) repeatedly fluctuated between a small saline pond habitat during lowstands and a large freshwater lake habitat during highstands. Starting from a paleoecological reconstruction, we estimated the role of priority effects in Daphnia community assembly across 16 of these habitat turnovers and compared this with the response of the community to reconstructed changes in three environmental variables important for species sorting. Our results indicate that the best predictor of Daphnia community composition during highstands was the community composition just prior to the transition from lowstands to highstands. This reflects a long-lasting priority effect of late lowstand communities on highstand communities, arising when remnant lowstand populations fill newly available ecological space in the rapidly expanding lake habitat. Species sorting and priority effects had a comparable but relatively small influence on community composition during the lowstands. Moreover, these priority effects decayed rapidly with time as Daphnia communities responded to environmental change, in contrast with the highstand communities where priority effects lasted for several decades.     

Effects of cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa on the filtration rate and mortality of the freshwater bivalve Corbicula leana

We compared filtering rates (FR) and mortalities between freshwater filter-feeding bivalve Corbicula leana acclimatized (AM) and non-acclimatized (NAM) to an cyanobacterial bloom (mainly Microcystis aeruginosa) over seven days. Both mussel populations were simultaneously stocked into mesocosms constructed in littoral zones of a eutrophic lake at a density of 740 ind. m(-2) for 16 days. NAMs decreased the concentration of chlorophyll-a 50% less than AMs. For the first seven days, the FRs (0.46-0.61) and mortality rate (slope = -30.2, r = -0.95) of NAMs were higher than those of AMs, possibly due to a sudden increase in unselective filtering. From the eighth day NAM mortality decreased rapidly and then stabilized, becoming similar to that of AMs through the end of the experiment. Stocking both AMs and NAMs increased the NH4-N concentration in the water, and the mortality rates of both mussel populations were correlated with NH4-N. In contrast, other nutrients and microcystin concentrations were not significantly associated with mussel mortality. These results indicate that although a sudden introduction of non-acclimatized C. leana may partially control phytoplankton biomass fora short period, previous short-term acclimatization is needed to minimize mussel mortality.     

Threshold management in a coupled economic–ecological system

Economic analysis of optimal ecosystem management in the presence of a threshold has typically ignored the potential for induced behavioral responses. This paper contributes to the literature on non-convex ecosystem management by considering the implications of a particular behavioral response in a regional economy – that of amenity-led growth – to changes in ecosystem services generated by a lake ecosystem subject to a eutrophication threshold. The essential policy challenge is to achieve optimal levels of lake nutrients and urbanization given that improvements to water quality will induce additional migration and urbanization in the region with attendant ecological impacts. We show that policies that ignore the recursive relationship between urbanization and water quality unintentionally exacerbate boom-bust cycles of regional growth and decline and risk pushing the system towards long-run economic decline. In contrast, the optimal policy accounts for the behavioral feedbacks to improved ecosystem services, and balances regional growth and ecological degradation.     

Threshold management in a coupled economic–ecological system

Economic analysis of optimal ecosystem management in the presence of a threshold has typically ignored the potential for induced behavioral responses. This paper contributes to the literature on non-convex ecosystem management by considering the implications of a particular behavioral response in a regional economy – that of amenity-led growth – to changes in ecosystem services generated by a lake ecosystem subject to a eutrophication threshold. The essential policy challenge is to achieve optimal levels of lake nutrients and urbanization given that improvements to water quality will induce additional migration and urbanization in the region with attendant ecological impacts. We show that policies that ignore the recursive relationship between urbanization and water quality unintentionally exacerbate boom-bust cycles of regional growth and decline and risk pushing the system towards long-run economic decline. In contrast, the optimal policy accounts for the behavioral feedbacks to improved ecosystem services, and balances regional growth and ecological degradation.     

Dynamics of the nitrogen cycle in a lake and its stability

Recent eutrophication of lakes or sea water has caused serious damage to the ecological balance in aquatic systems and to the quality of water for human use. The purpose of this study is to construct a dynamic model of the nitrogen cycle in a lake and to study the dynamic behavior of the various nitrogen forms such as organic, inorganic and plankton in connection with the mechanism of algal blooms in lakes. The dynamics of the system are represented by a system of non-linear differential equations which include the predator-prey relation between plankton types, and are discussed with the stability analysis of the critical points of differential equations. The effects of seasonal changes of environmental parameters are studied with computer simulations.     

固城湖生物资源潜力及其生态渔业探讨

根据 1999年对固城湖生物资源的周年综合调查 ,推算出固城湖的生物资源可供养鱼虾蟹能力在 65～ 75万kg ,其中河蟹产量可达 2 .5万kg。分析了固城湖近年河蟹产量不高的原因并提出解决办法。为保证固城湖作为饮用水源区等多重功能的发挥 ,提出了固城湖主要生态功能区划和污染负荷量计算模型及渔业生态对策     

Phoenix: Umgestaltung eines Industriestandortes in einen Wohn- und Gewerbepark mit wasserwirtschaftlichen Ansprüchen

The transformation of the former blast-furnace site “Hermannhütte” in Dortmund-Hoerde into commercial, residential and service parks, called PHOENIX East and PHOENIX West involves some unusual challenges concerning the water management. The retention of sediments and nutrients plays an important role. To achieve the objectives, various management measures are being used. The installation of an artificial lake in PHOENIX East, which is groundwater- and rainfed, has different requirements than the conventional purification and retention of surface water in PHOENIX West. Both conventional methods such as storm water sedimentation tank and -reservoirs as well as soil filtration, phosphates elimination, Biodyozon^®-plant and biomass management ensure good water quality.     

Changes in microcystin content and environmental parameters over the course of a toxic cyanobacteria bloom in a hypertrophic regulated river, South Korea

Cyanobacterial blooms and associated microcystins in hypertrophic stagnant West-Nakdong River were investigated at weekly intervals from April to August, 1999. Microcystis spp. accounted for over 85% of the numeric abundance of total phytoplankton. Microcystins were present in the blooms sampled between May and August. The peak of total microcystin (microcystin-LR + -RR) levels (maximum level; 612 microg g(-1)) was detected in the initial stage of the bloom (mid May), at the same time as high N/P ratio and high Microcystis biomass. This study indicated that total microcystins of this regulated river was positively correlated to Microcystis biomass, absolute nutrient concentration and TN/TP ratio.     

程海冬季水华暴发期间氮、磷营养元素的形态与分布

氮、磷营养元素是湖泊生态系统中极其重要的生态因子,它们以不同形态存在于湖泊水体中,表现出不同的地球化学行为和生态效应,从而支配着湖泊生态系统的生产力水平和湖泊富营养化进程。通过设置3个断面9个采样站14个采样点,研究了程海湖水体中氮、磷营养元素的形态与分布,结果表明：2009年11月23日—2010年2月20日,以铜绿微囊藻（Microcystis aeruginosa Kutz.）为主的程海冬季水华暴发期间,总氮质量浓度0.540~3.906 mg.L-1,平均0.836 mg.L-1;总磷质量浓度0.036~0.166 mg.L-1,平均0.061 mg.L-1。其中,溶解态氮、溶解态磷分别为61.7%和50.8%。溶解态氮以有机氮为主,溶解态磷则以无机磷为主。水华期间生物可直接利用氮质量浓度0.118 mg.L-1;生物可直接利用磷质量浓度0.021 mg.L-1,分别占总氮、总磷质量浓度的14.1%和34.4%,显示出此特定时期,氮的消耗速度较磷快。氮素、磷素及其赋存形态在程海的时间分布上有不同的节奏;水平分布差异不明显;垂直分布在水表层至亚底层的水柱中差异也不明显,而在湖底层最高。     

富营养化水体中藻类生长限制因素的确定及其应用

在富化营养化的巢湖，围隔实验结果表明磷和其它营养元素不是水体藻类的生长限制因素、藻类生长的正磷酸盐阈值浓度为０．０１９ｍｇ／ｌ，它低于巢湖实际浓度。湖水的矿物性浊度很高，净生产力在一米水深以下呈现负值，数据表明学强在大数时间是藻类生长的限制因素。在巢湖治理过程中，需大幅降低流域内的磷负荷，使湖水平均溶解态总磷浓度从目前的０．０４９ｍｌ／ｌ降到０．０１９ｍｇ／ｌ以下。因此巢湖在治理和恢复是一个缓慢的