Atmospheric Stilling Promotes Summer Algal Growth in Eutrophic Shallow Lakes
Wei Zou,
Guangwei Zhu,
Hai Xu,
Mengyuan Zhu,
Chaoxuan Guo,
Boqiang Qin,
Yunlin Zhang
Affiliations
Wei Zou
Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Guangwei Zhu
Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Hai Xu
Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Mengyuan Zhu
Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Chaoxuan Guo
Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Boqiang Qin
Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Yunlin Zhang
Taihu Laboratory for Lake Ecosystem Research, State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
Algal blooms are environmental challenges confronting lakes worldwide and are significantly influenced by chlorophyll a yields per unit phosphorus (Chla/TP), or nitrogen (Chla/TN). Here, the influence of inter-annual hydrometeorological variations on Chla/TP and Chla/TN were evaluated in eutrophic shallow Lake Taihu, China. Our results demonstrated significant increases (p a/TN and Chla/TP from 2005 to 2017, and increased Chla yields during the winter months were mainly correlated with higher water temperature and longer sunshine hours, which may cause severer blooms in winter and spring. In remaining months from 2005 to 2017, typical associations between atmospheric stilling (or water level elevation) and higher Chla yields were observed. The results also indicate that atmospheric stilling and water level elevation significantly (p a yields until self-shading caused further light limitations. If the mechanism is general, promoting the effect of atmospheric stilling on annual peak Chla in shallow lakes may be greatly underestimated, and our finding will affect future bloom mitigation efforts in such systems.
