Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area
As one of the world’s four Greater Bay Areas, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) faces many environmental challenges along with rapid economic development, causing significant degradation of aquatic ecosystems. However, there is limited knowledge on long-term environmental changes...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/20/3639 |
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| author | Yuke Li Yan Li Hanfei Yang Quan Hong Guoyao Huang Giri Kattel |
| author_facet | Yuke Li Yan Li Hanfei Yang Quan Hong Guoyao Huang Giri Kattel |
| author_sort | Yuke Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As one of the world’s four Greater Bay Areas, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) faces many environmental challenges along with rapid economic development, causing significant degradation of aquatic ecosystems. However, there is limited knowledge on long-term environmental changes (i.e., >50 years), and restoration of the degraded aquatic ecosystems in the GBA has become increasingly difficult. This study selects a typical inland water body, the Miaotan Reservoir, from Huizhou City in the GBA, to explore long-term changes in water and the eco-environment over the past 70 years and to provide some restoration and management strategies for degrading aquatic ecosystems in the region. We collected a sediment core from the reservoir center and established an age–depth profile by integrating <sup>210</sup>Pb and <sup>137</sup>Cs dating. We then set up high-resolution diatom community succession stratigraphy and multiple indicators (grain size, element, geochemical and social indicators) as responses to environmental changes in the reservoir. Our results show that significant changes have occurred in the ecosystem and environment of the Miaotan Reservoir and its catchment over the past 70 years. The diatom community underwent a gradual transition from absolute dominance of the mesotrophic species <i>Aulacoseira granulata</i> to dominance of the eutrophic species <i>Nicizschia gracilis</i>, <i>Nicizschia palea</i> and <i>Achanathes</i> sp., indicating the onset of water quality degradation and ecosystem changes in the 1990s due to eutrophication. The RDA (Redundancy analysis) results demonstrate that exogenous pollutant inputs into the Miaotan Reservoir resulting from agricultural activities over the period led to serious environmental changes, e.g., toxic algal bloom and heavy metal pollution. This study enriches our understanding of long-term environmental changes in inland lakes and reservoirs in South China and provides insights into the restoration and management of aquatic ecosystems in the GBA. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:48:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f6305dd994945418ac3bb17f0085f92 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:48:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f6305dd994945418ac3bb17f0085f922023-11-19T18:30:40ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412023-10-011520363910.3390/w15203639Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay AreaYuke Li0Yan Li1Hanfei Yang2Quan Hong3Guoyao Huang4Giri Kattel5School of Geography and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaDepartment of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, AustraliaAs one of the world’s four Greater Bay Areas, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) faces many environmental challenges along with rapid economic development, causing significant degradation of aquatic ecosystems. However, there is limited knowledge on long-term environmental changes (i.e., >50 years), and restoration of the degraded aquatic ecosystems in the GBA has become increasingly difficult. This study selects a typical inland water body, the Miaotan Reservoir, from Huizhou City in the GBA, to explore long-term changes in water and the eco-environment over the past 70 years and to provide some restoration and management strategies for degrading aquatic ecosystems in the region. We collected a sediment core from the reservoir center and established an age–depth profile by integrating <sup>210</sup>Pb and <sup>137</sup>Cs dating. We then set up high-resolution diatom community succession stratigraphy and multiple indicators (grain size, element, geochemical and social indicators) as responses to environmental changes in the reservoir. Our results show that significant changes have occurred in the ecosystem and environment of the Miaotan Reservoir and its catchment over the past 70 years. The diatom community underwent a gradual transition from absolute dominance of the mesotrophic species <i>Aulacoseira granulata</i> to dominance of the eutrophic species <i>Nicizschia gracilis</i>, <i>Nicizschia palea</i> and <i>Achanathes</i> sp., indicating the onset of water quality degradation and ecosystem changes in the 1990s due to eutrophication. The RDA (Redundancy analysis) results demonstrate that exogenous pollutant inputs into the Miaotan Reservoir resulting from agricultural activities over the period led to serious environmental changes, e.g., toxic algal bloom and heavy metal pollution. This study enriches our understanding of long-term environmental changes in inland lakes and reservoirs in South China and provides insights into the restoration and management of aquatic ecosystems in the GBA.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/20/3639environmental changeeutrophicationdiatomsmultiple indicatorsMiaotan ReservoirGuangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| spellingShingle | Yuke Li Yan Li Hanfei Yang Quan Hong Guoyao Huang Giri Kattel Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area Water environmental change eutrophication diatoms multiple indicators Miaotan Reservoir Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| title | Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| title_full | Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| title_fullStr | Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| title_full_unstemmed | Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| title_short | Century-Scale Environmental Evolution of a Typical Subtropical Reservoir in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| title_sort | century scale environmental evolution of a typical subtropical reservoir in the guangdong hong kong macao greater bay area |
| topic | environmental change eutrophication diatoms multiple indicators Miaotan Reservoir Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/15/20/3639 |
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