Historical trophic evolutions and their ecological responses from shallow lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River: Case studies on Longgan Lake and Taibai Lake

The evolutions of diatom floras and the total phosphorous (TP) concentrations in the historical period were reconstructed for two lakes, Longgan and Taibai in the middle Yangtze River, based on high resolutional fossil diatom study from two sediment cores and an established regional diatom-TP transfer function. The TP concentration in Longgan Lake changed slightly in the range of 36-62μg/L and kept its middle trophic level in the past 200 years. The changes of diatom assemblages reflect a macrophyte-dominated history of the lake. During the nineteenth century, the lake TP concentration increased comparatively, corresponding to the increase in abundance of benthic diatoms. The progressive increase of epiphytic diatoms since the onset of the twentieth century indicates the development of aquatic plants, coinciding with the twice drops of water TP level. The TP concentration in Taibai Lake kept a stable status about 50μg/L before 1953 AD, while diatoms dominated by facultative planktonic Aulacoseira granulata shifted quickly to epiphytic diatom species, indicating a rapid expansion of aquatic vegetation. During 1953-1970 AD, the coverage of aquatic plants decreased greatly inferred by the low abundance of epiphytic diatoms as well as declined planktonic types, and the reconstructed TP concentration shows an obvious rising trend firstly, suggesting the beginning of the lake eutrophication. The lake was in the eutrophic condition after 1970, coinciding with the successive increase of planktonic diatoms. The comparison of the two lakes suggests the internal adjustment and purification function of aquatic plants for nutrients in water. The discrepancy of TP trends in the two lakes after 1960 reflects two different patterns of lake environmental response to human disturbance. Sediments in Taibai Lake clearly recorded the process of lake ecological transformation from the macrophyte-dominated stage to the algae-dominated stage. The limits of TP concentration (68-118μg/L) in the transitional state can be considered as the critical value between the two stable ecosystems. Further work will be necessary to provide more evidence from the sediments in more eutrophic lakes for the primary inference. The reconstructive TP level and the inference of aquatic plants from fossil diatoms in different lakes, as well as their comparison provide a scientific basis for ecological restoration of eutrophic lakes in research regions.