Macrophyte effects on algal turbidity in subtropical versus temperate lakes: a comment on Wang et al . (2014)

Summary A recent analysis of 30 lakes in the Y angtze basin found no effect of benthic macrophyte coverage on the relationship between chlorophyll a concentrations and total phosphorus ( TP ). While several recent studies have found the effects of macrophyte coverage to be weaker in subtropical versus temperate shallow lakes, in this case, the finding was due to a statistical error meaning that the comparison was effectively made for lakes with very low TP concentrations of just 1 μg L −1 . Centring the data so that the comparison is made at a TP concentration where both vegetated and non‐vegetated lakes are found confirms a strong effect of macrophytes on the chlorophyll a to TP relationship. Thus, macrophyte effects for these subtropical lakes in the Y angtze basin are in fact similar to those found in temperate lakes.