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Post‐Impoundment Biomass and Composition of Phytoplankton in the Yangtze River
Author(s) -
Zeng Hui,
Song Lirong,
Yu Zhigang,
Chen Hongtao
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
international review of hydrobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 1434-2944
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.200610893
Subject(s) - phytoplankton , biomass (ecology) , environmental science , chlorophyta , abundance (ecology) , nutrient , phosphorus , cyanobacteria , algal bloom , algae , ecology , biology , chemistry , genetics , organic chemistry , bacteria
Damming, and thus alteration of stream flow, promotes higher phytoplankton populations and encourages algal blooms (density >10 6 cells L –1 ) in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). Phytoplankton composition and biomass were studied in the Yangtze River from March 2004 to May 2005. 107 taxa were identified. Diatoms were the dominant group, followed by Chlorophyta and Cyanobacteria. In the Yangtze River, algal abundance varied from 3.13 × 10 3 to 3.83 × 10 6 cells L –1 , and algal biomass was in the range of 0.06 to 659 mg C m –3 . Levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and silica did not show consistent longitudinal changes along the river and were not correlated with phytoplankton parameters. Phytoplankton abundance was negatively correlated with main channel discharge (Spearman r = –1.000, P < 0.01). Phytoplankton abundance and biomass in the Yangtze River are mainly determined by the hydrological conditions rather than by nutrient concentrations. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)