Using a structural equation model to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving factors of phytoplankton in the plateau Hongfeng Reservoir in southwest China

• Published in: Aquatic ecology Vol. 56; no. 4; pp. 1297 - 1313
• Main Authors: Pan, Shaopu, Li, Qiuhua, Meng, Chunlan, Han, Mengshu, Ma, Yiming, Brancelj, Anton
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abundance; Algae; Ammonia; Analysis; Aquatic plants; Bacillariophyceae; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chlorophyta; Community ecology; Community structure; Cyanobacteria; Diatoms; Dissolved oxygen; Dominant species; Dynamic structural analysis; Dynamics; Ecosystems; Environmental factors; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Life Sciences; Marine microorganisms; Mathematical models; Multivariate statistical analysis; Nitrogen; Nutrients; Orthophosphate; Phosphorus; Phytoplankton; Plankton; Reservoirs; Structural equation modeling; Water quality; China; Phytoplankton; Driving factors; Spatiotemporal; Dynamics; Structural equation model
• ISSN: 1386-2588; 1573-5125
• DOI: 10.1007/s10452-022-09963-9

The time and space dynamics of phytoplankton and its driving factors were studied in Hongfeng Reservoir, southwestern China, from March 2016 to December 2019 to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics and driving factors of the phytoplankton community structure. The structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the relationship between abundance of phytoplankton and environmental factors in order to determine the main environmental factors that affect changes in phytoplankton. A total of 110 phytoplankton taxa were obtained from six sites. They were members of seven phyla and 68 genera with 12 dominant species or genera. The SEM showed that the main environmental factors that affected the cyanobacteria and diatoms were the temperature (WT), total nitrogen (TN), nitrite nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, and transparency (SD). Those that affected the Chlorophyta were the pH, TN, ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 + –N), and orthophosphate phosphorus (PO 4 3− –P). We concluded that changes in the WT, SD, and the concentration of nutrients significantly affected the abundance of phytoplankton and the dominance of Cyanobacteria and diatoms, whereas these factors had insignificant effects on green algae. The WT, SD, TN and NH 4 + –N were found to be important environmental factors that affect the structure, growth, and reproduction of the phytoplankton community in Hongfeng Reservoir. This study should provide a scientific reference for the reservoir phytoplankton community ecology and a database on the changes in water quality.