Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir management
In this study, we evaluated the ecological water quality of the entire Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) and further examined the relationship with changes in watershed land covers. Using the phytoplankton functional group-based Q index, we found that the ecological water quality in the mainstream (previ...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1196089/full |
| _version_ | 1827951695705931776 |
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| author | Lin Ye Kefeng Chen Jingjing Cheng Lu Tan Min Zhang Xiaoguang Zhang Xiaoguang Zhang Qinghua Cai |
| author_facet | Lin Ye Kefeng Chen Jingjing Cheng Lu Tan Min Zhang Xiaoguang Zhang Xiaoguang Zhang Qinghua Cai |
| author_sort | Lin Ye |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this study, we evaluated the ecological water quality of the entire Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) and further examined the relationship with changes in watershed land covers. Using the phytoplankton functional group-based Q index, we found that the ecological water quality in the mainstream (previously known as the Yangtze River) of TGR is good, with 84% of sites in the status above good. While the poor ecological water quality was generally observed in the backwater regions of TGR’s tributaries, with 79% of sites below the good status. Further investigating the potential impacts of the changes in land covers within the watershed on the tributary ecological water quality, we found that the percentage of urban and farmland areas had a significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation with the Q index-based ecological water quality of the tributary bays, and the forest cover had a marginally significant (p = 0.058) positive correlation with the ecological water quality. As a comparison, total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the tributary backwater regions of TGR had no reasonable correlation with the land covers within the watershed. Our study highlights that watershed management can enhance the ecological water quality in the backwater regions of TGR’s tributaries, but it likely to be a long-term process. This implies considerations of other rapid measures, such as the water level regulation approach, should also be considered in reservoir management. Our study underscores the importance of ecological water quality assessment in reservoir management and provides insights into the impacts of changes in watershed land covers on ecological water quality in backwater regions of TGR’s tributaries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:45:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e65c85c799a5468299385843374a69be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-665X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T13:45:05Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-e65c85c799a5468299385843374a69be2023-05-09T05:22:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Science2296-665X2023-05-011110.3389/fenvs.2023.11960891196089Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir managementLin Ye0Kefeng Chen1Jingjing Cheng2Lu Tan3Min Zhang4Xiaoguang Zhang5Xiaoguang Zhang6Qinghua Cai7State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, ChinaDepartment of Water Ecology and Environment, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, ChinaCollege of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, ChinaIn this study, we evaluated the ecological water quality of the entire Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) and further examined the relationship with changes in watershed land covers. Using the phytoplankton functional group-based Q index, we found that the ecological water quality in the mainstream (previously known as the Yangtze River) of TGR is good, with 84% of sites in the status above good. While the poor ecological water quality was generally observed in the backwater regions of TGR’s tributaries, with 79% of sites below the good status. Further investigating the potential impacts of the changes in land covers within the watershed on the tributary ecological water quality, we found that the percentage of urban and farmland areas had a significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation with the Q index-based ecological water quality of the tributary bays, and the forest cover had a marginally significant (p = 0.058) positive correlation with the ecological water quality. As a comparison, total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the tributary backwater regions of TGR had no reasonable correlation with the land covers within the watershed. Our study highlights that watershed management can enhance the ecological water quality in the backwater regions of TGR’s tributaries, but it likely to be a long-term process. This implies considerations of other rapid measures, such as the water level regulation approach, should also be considered in reservoir management. Our study underscores the importance of ecological water quality assessment in reservoir management and provides insights into the impacts of changes in watershed land covers on ecological water quality in backwater regions of TGR’s tributaries.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1196089/fullwatershed managementbiological assessmentecological statusphytoplanktonreservoir |
| spellingShingle | Lin Ye Kefeng Chen Jingjing Cheng Lu Tan Min Zhang Xiaoguang Zhang Xiaoguang Zhang Qinghua Cai Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir management Frontiers in Environmental Science watershed management biological assessment ecological status phytoplankton reservoir |
| title | Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir management |
| title_full | Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir management |
| title_fullStr | Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir management |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir management |
| title_short | Ecological water quality of the Three Gorges Reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area: implications for reservoir management |
| title_sort | ecological water quality of the three gorges reservoir and its relationship with land covers in the reservoir area implications for reservoir management |
| topic | watershed management biological assessment ecological status phytoplankton reservoir |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1196089/full |
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