Zhengyu Hu

Impacts of the Three Gorges Dam on microbial structure and potential function

The Three Gorges Dam has significantly altered ecological and environmental conditions within the reservoir region, but how these changes affect bacterioplankton structure and function is unknown. Here, three widely accepted metagenomic tools were employed to study the impact of damming on the bacterioplankton community in the Xiangxi River. Our results indicated that bacterioplankton communities were both taxonomically and functionally different between backwater and riverine sites, which represent communities with and without direct dam effects, respectively. There were many more nitrogen cycling Betaproteobacteria (e.g., Limnohabitans), and a higher abundance of functional genes and KEGG orthology (KO) groups involved in nitrogen cycling in the riverine sites, suggesting a higher level of bacterial activity involved in generating more nitrogenous nutrients for the growth of phytoplankton. Additionally, the KO categories involved in carbon and sulfur metabolism, as well as most of the detected functional genes also showed clear backwater and riverine patterns. As expected, these diversity patterns all significantly correlated with environmental characteristics, confirming that the bacterioplankton communities in the Xiangxi River were really affected by environmental changes from the Three Gorges Dam. This study provides a first comparative metagenomic insight for evaluating the impacts of the large dam on microbial function.

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

Daning River is a deep tributary of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in China, with water level fluctuations of 30 m annually. It was assumed that the hydrologic regime would be the main driving force in the self-assembling of the phytoplankton community in the river. In order to test this hypothesis, limnological study was performed monthly in the estuary, midstream and upstream of this tributary from May 2008 to April 2009. We identified 17 phytoplankton functional groups among 63 genera. These phytoplankton functional groups varied significantly, both seasonally and longitudinally. During the flood season (March-September), low water level and high inflows caused a marked increase in the turbidity, especially in the estuary and upstream, allowing functional group MP (the meroplanktonic diatoms) to dominate the phytoplankton community. Meanwhile, constant water level and high temperature led to the stability and thermal stratification in the midstream. These conditions resulted in a high phytoplankton biomass and the dominance of phytoplankton functional groups Y (Cryptomonas spp.) and Lo (motile Peridiniopsis niei and Peridinium) that were adapted to water stratification. During the dry season (October-February), although the inflows were low and water retention time was long, the thermal stratification was disrupted by the disturbance due to the impoundment of TGR, and the water column was deeply mixed. The phytoplankton biomass reduced and functional groups changed: group Lo declined, and group C (small diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana) increased in the estuary and midstream. Group Y replaced group MP to dominate the phytoplankton community in the upstream with the water becoming clear and stagnant. It could be deduced that the dynamics of phytoplankton in the Daning River were mainly influenced by hydrologic regime.

Spatiotemporal patterns of surface-suspended particulate matter in the Three Gorges Reservoir

An investigation was conducted in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) seasonally from September 2010 to June 2011 to screen the distribution pattern of suspended particulate matter (SPM). Concentration of SPM, particulate nitrogen (PN), particulate phosphorus (PP), bioavailable particulate phosphorus (BAPP), and chlorophyll a (Chl a) were determined synchronously. Concentration of SPM was higher in the flood season than in the dry season and higher in the mainstream than in the tributaries. Chl a, PN, PP, and BAPP showed similar temporal pattern with SPM distribution. Particulate elements were significantly correlated with concentrations of SPM (p < 0.05). The proportion of algae-derived SPM in total SPM was higher in the tributaries than that in the mainstream. The results revealed that the spatiotemporal heterogeneity determined by hydrodynamics was the characteristic of SPM distribution. The source of SPM was mostly allochthonous. It could be deduced that SPM was an important factor affecting the water quality and algal growth in TGR by releasing or absorbing particulate nutrient.