JOURNAL OF NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY ›› 2020, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (3): 111-118.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1000-2006.201903048

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The allocation of nutrient elements among plant communities in estuary of Huaihe River in Hongze Lake

DING Lihua1(), GU Yan1, LUO Kangning1, XU Zhiming2, LIU Maosong1()   

  1. 1.School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
    2.Sihong Hongze Lake Wetland Reserve Management Committee of Jiangsu Province, Sihong 223900, China
  • Received:2019-03-18 Revised:2019-05-31 Online:2020-05-30 Published:2020-06-11
  • Contact: LIU Maosong E-mail:dingding121140010@163.com;msliu@nju.edu.cn

Abstract: Objective

Hongze Lake is a large-scale river reservoir in the middle reaches and a sink of pollution in the upper reaches of Huaihe River. The authors studied the distribution characteristics of nutrients in the estuary of Huaihe River and discussed the transfer mechanism of nutrients between communities, which can provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of lake eutrophication.

Method

We compared the contents and distribution characteristics of N and P in communities of Phragmites australis, Potamogeton pectinatus, Potamogeton crispus and Nelumbo nucifera, respectively, in the water channel in Huaihe River estuary of Hongze Lake. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to compare the correlation between water depth, pH, nutrient content in sediment, grain size structure in sediment, and nutrient content in overlying water.

Result

① In surface sediments, total nitrogen (TN) content was significantly positively correlated with total organic carbon (TOC) content and the average grain diameter of sediments; total phosphorus (TP) content was negatively correlated with the average grain diameter and weakly positively correlated with TOC content. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen content (C/N) in surface sediments was 6-20 and the ratio of carbon to phosphorus content (C/P) was 11-79. There were significant differences among communities. ② The TN concentration in overlying water was significantly negatively correlated with TN, TOC content, and average grain diameter in sediments, and was weakly positively correlated with TP content. The TP concentration in overlying water was weakly positively correlated with TN, TOC content, and average grain diameter in sediments, and was weakly negatively correlated with TP content. ③ Among various microhabitats of the estuary, the ratio of TN and TP contents between water and sediment in adjacent plant communities was different, and the higher the content of TN and TP in the sediments was, the lower the concentrations of TN and TP in the overlying water would be.

Conclusion

In the estuary area, the average grain diameter has a relatively high explanatory rate on who affects the quality of overlying water. Sediment deposition significantly affects the distribution characteristics of elements in sediments, and has the greatest effect on the content of TP. The balance ratios of N and P in the overlying water and sediments of different communities are quite different. These ratios could be an important mechanism for concentration gradients existing in main water quality indexes of different plant communities in estuary areas, for affecting the transfer of nutrient elements between different communities, and for realizing the redistribution of nutrient elements in surface sediments between communities.

Key words: Hongze Lake, estuary, sediments, element distribution characteristics, equilibrium ratio, Huaihe River

CLC Number: