Community characteristics of phytoplankton and management implications in Poyang Lake Basin

Eutrophication of lakes is one of the most common pressures affecting aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services. Poyang Lake is of great importance for maintaining regional ecological balance; however, algal blooms have become major environmental problems in this basin, and they are also caused by a variety of problems including biodiversity decline, toxin production and possibly unsafe drinking water. In this study, the community structure of phytoplankton and physicochemical parameters were investigated in different eutrophication area, Poyang Lake Basin. The results showed that the number of phytoplankton species had decreased, but the density and biomass were increased in the current period. The assemblage structure of phytoplankton showed significantly seasonal and spatial variability. The assemblage structure of phytoplankton was related to dissolved oxygen, nitrate nitrogen, chlorophyll- a and ammonium nitrogen, based on redundancy analysis. The study showed that the phytoplankton community structure was influenced by algal blooms and water quality factors. This study provides an important reference for increased biomonitoring and ecohydrological studies in this basin.