[Changes in Phytoplankton Community Structure in Qingcaosha Reservoir Based on Time Series Analysis].

Abstract

Qingcaosha Reservoir is one among the important reservoirs and drinking water sources in Shanghai. Samples were collected from the reservoir every month from 2014 to 2021 to analyze phytoplankton community structure and water environmental factors to provide a reasonable reference for urban reservoir operation management, water resource protection, and development and utilization. The results showed that 561 species of phytoplankton were identified from eight phyla in 8a, mainly diatomata, chlorophyta, and cyanophyta, accounting for 34.94%, 34.58%, and 17.65% of the total species, respectively. A total of 26 dominant species were present in four phyla, and cyanobacteria accounted for 50%. Diatoms and green algae were the dominant species, cyanobacteria was the absolute dominant species, and other phyla accounted for a low proportion in the community structure. The Qingcaosha reservoir had the tendency of transforming into a cyanobacteria-type reservoir. The major dominant genera of chlorophyta were Scenedesmus, Ankistrodesmusc, and Chlorellaceae. The dominant genera of the phylum cyanobacteria were Merismopediaceae, Microcystaceae, Aphanocapsa, and Pseudanabaenaceae. The major dominant genera of the diatoms were Cyclotella, Melosira, and Aulacoseira. The dominant genus of xanthophyta was Tribonemataceae. Phytoplankton abundance ranged from 8.391×10⁵ to 2.115×10⁷ cells·L^-1, with an average of 6.345×10⁶ cells·L^-1. The biomass of phytoplankton varied from 0.113 to 11.903 mg·L^-1, with an average of 1.538 mg·L^-1. The maximum abundance occurred in summer, and the maximum biomass occurred in spring. In spatial distribution, the maximum biomass and abundance appeared in the reservoir. Redundancy analysis （RDA） of phytoplankton community structure and water environmental factors showed that water temperature （WT）, dissolved oxygen （DO）, and nutrient salts （TN, TP） were important environmental factors affecting phytoplankton community structure, and significant changes occurred in 2014-2017 and 2018-2021. From 2018 to 2021, cyanobacteria disappeared and cyanobacteria dominated the reservoir and even changed to cyanobacteria-type reservoirs. From 2016 to 2021, half of the dominant species were cyanobacteria, and the cyanobacteria abundance accounted for the highest proportion during this period. The reasons for the extinction of xanthophyta were speculated to be the increase in phosphorus concentration and water temperature, and the reasons for the dominant position of cyanophyta, to be the rise of water level, water temperature, and alkaline water. Reservoirs use filter-feeding fish to control algal overgrowth； however, filter-feeding fish do not filter all algae and not all of their filter-feeding algae is easily digestible. In this study, it was observed that the size of digestible algae biomass in the four seasons was in the order of spring > summer > autumn > winter. RDA analysis of silver carp, bighead carp, and digestible algae showed that the biomass of digestible algae was positively correlated with that of silver carp and bighead carp in spring, autumn, and winter. These results suggest that the digestibility of algae changed the resource use efficiency of filter-feeding fish and led to changes in phytoplankton community structure. The phytoplankton community structure was directly affected by the descending effect of fish and indirectly affected by the digestibility of algae.