Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem degradation is widely recognized as a major global environmental and development problem. Although great efforts have been made to prevent aquatic ecosystem degradation, the degree, extent and impacts of this phenomenon remain controversial and unclear, such as its driving mechanisms. Here, we present results from a 17-year field investigation (1998-2014) of wa...

The spatio-temporal distribution of environmental factors, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), and microcystins (MCs) in a shallow lake, Lake Taihu (China), were investigated from 2009 to 2011 on a monthly basis at nine sampling stations. The annual mean concentration ranges of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), Chl-a, MC-LR and MC-RR were 0.17-10.53 mg/L, 0.027-0.581 mg/L, 0.10-129.75 µg/L, 0.013-...

Ongoing eutrophication frequently causes toxic phytoplankton blooms. This induces huge worldwide challenges for drinking water quality, food security and public health. Of crucial importance in avoiding and reducing blooms is to determine the maximum nutrient load ecosystems can absorb, while remaining in a good ecological state. These so called critical nutrient loads for lakes depend on the s...

As the algae blooms in the Taihu Lake of our country are more and more frequent and have become to be a big threat to ecosystem environment, aquatic breeding industry and human health. In this paper, by summarizing current research conditions on the algae blooms forecast, with MODIS data and ground collecting data in the Taihu Lake in China, the authors use a new concept to construct the algae ...

fifteen kinds of local wetland plants in taihu lake region of china were investigated on their respective growth conditions, biomass allocations and nutrient uptake capacities. the test plants were cultured in 3 l nutrient solutions for 28 days with nh4 +-n, no3 --n and p concentrations of 38.5, 132.8 and 10 mg/l, respectively. mean species total biomass ranged from 1.2-21.6 g/plant with above/...

The occurrence and distribution of microcystins were investigated in Lake Taihu, the third largest lake in China. An extensive survey, larger and broader in scale than previous studies, was conducted in summer 2010. The highest microcystin concentration was found at southern part of Taihu, which was newly included in this survey. In northern coastal areas, total cellular concentrations of 20 to...

A yearlong campaign to examine sediment resuspension was conducted in large, shallow and eutrophic Lake Taihu, China, to investigate the influence of vegetation on sediment resuspension and its nutrient effects. The study was conducted at 6 sites located in both phytoplankton-dominated zone and macrophyte-dominated zone of the lake, lasting for a total of 13 months, with collections made at two...

In recent years, water quality degradation associated with rapid socio-economic development in the Taihu Lake Basin, China, has attracted increasing attention from both the public and the Chinese government. The primary sources of pollution in Taihu Lake are its inflow rivers and their tributaries. Effective water environmental management strategies need to be implemented in these rivers to imp...

Based on long-term rainfall measurements (1956-2012), water level records (1956-2006), and aquatic plants field survey data (1960-2014), the relationship between precipitation and aquatic vegetation succession in east Taihu Lake, China, is studied. Neither abrupt changes nor any trends were found in the annual rainfall series in Taihu Lake during the studied period (1956-2012). However, for sea...

In the beginning of the 21st century, the deterioration of water quality in Taihu Lake, China, has caused widespread concern. The primary source of pollution in Taihu Lake is river inflows. Effective pollution load reduction scenarios need to be implemented in these rivers in order to improve the water quality of Taihu Lake. It is important to select appropriate pollution load reduction scenari...