Succession of phytoplankton functional groups regulated by monsoonal hydrology in a large canyon-shaped reservoir

Responses of phytoplankton functional groups to the hydrologic regime in the Daning River, a tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir, China

“…The dissolved nutrient concentrations in the Daning River (P-PO 4 : 0.020±0.015 mg L −1 , N-NO 3 : 1.4± 0.42 mg L −1 , N-NH 4 : 0.17±0.10 mg L −1 ) were markedly higher than the threshold for half-saturation for most algal species according to Reynolds (1997). The same scenario was also observed in the Liuxihe reservoir in southern China (Xiao et al, 2011). Considering the correlations between environmental variables and phytoplankton biomass, nutrient availability might affect some functional groups such as J group in the flood season.…”

“…Moreover, the competitiveness of this group is enhanced by the possession of flagella, which allow vertical migration through the water layers to reach optimal light conditions and nutrient concentrations (Bovo-Scomparin and Train, 2008;Jansson et al, 1996). Members of the Lo group, mainly represented by motile Peridiniopsis niei and Peridinium spp., can obtain nutrients easily from the hypolimnion and grow well in a wide range of nutrient concentration (Liu et al, 2008;Xiao et al, 2011;Yang et al, 2011). Furthermore, high water temperature (20-27°C) is favorable for reproduction in this genus (Grigorszky et al, 2006).…”

Seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton functional groups and its relationship with the environment in river: a case study in northeast China

“…Functional groups were defined according to Reynolds et al (2002) and Padisa´k et al (2009) based on the morphological and ecological characteristics of the most representative species. Functional groups contributing more than 5% of total phytoplankton biomass at least once during the sampling period were classified as dominant groups (Xiao et al 2011). The differences in environmental variables in different seasons were tested by one-way ANOVA with SPSS 15.0.…”

“…In contrast to phylogenetic groups, functional groups were more effective in evaluating the responses to environmental conditions and changes . Phytoplankton functional groups have been successfully applied to estuary (Costa et al 2009), lake Mieleitner et al 2008) and reservoir ecosystems (Crossetti and Bicudo 2008;Becker et al 2009;Xiao et al 2011). However, few studies have been carried out in rivers (Devercelli 2006).…”

Spatial heterogeneity and seasonal succession of phytoplankton functional groups along the vertical gradient in a mesotrophic reservoir

“…The functional classification approach has been successfully applied in reservoirs (e.g., Crossetti and Bicudo, 2008;Becker et al, 2010;Rychteckyá nd Znachor, 2011) and can reveal the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems independently from their geographic location (Padisa´k et al, 2006). However, previous studies mainly focused on the temporal distributions of FGs without investigating their vertical variability (Fonseca and Bicudo, 2008;Becker et al, 2009a;Xiao et al, 2011). On the other hand, to our knowledge, vertical distribution of FGs was not investigated in Mediterranean reservoirs and only a short-term study (Becker et al, 2009b) and a long-term one (Crossetti and Bicudo, 2008) were performed in tropical Brazilian reservoirs.…”