ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Freshwater Science
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1615267
This article is part of the Research TopicEutrophication, Algal blooms, and Hypoxia in Lakes and Reservoirs: Perspectives on Addressing Water Quality DegradationView all 4 articles
Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Phytoplankton Primary Productivity in Chinese Reservoirs: Influencing Factors and Carbon Sequestration
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing, China
- 2West Anhui University, Lu'an, Anhui, China
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Phytoplankton primary production (PP) underpins the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems in reservoirs. However, national-scale studies of reservoir phytoplankton PP in China remain limited, typically subsumed within lake research, hindering mechanistic understanding of large-scale PP variations. To address this gap, we compiled a database of phytoplankton PP in Chinese reservoirs based on an exhaustive literature review, incorporating only data measured using the light-dark bottle method. Utilizing this database, this study quantifies phytoplankton PP and carbon sequestration potential across 165 Chinese reservoirs. The result showed that phytoplankton PP ranged 0.13-10.22 g O2•m - 2 •d -1 , with significantly higher values in the Yellow River (YR), Songhua-Liaohe River (S/LR), and Haihe and Huaihe River (H/HR) basins versus the Pearl River (PR), Northwest Interior Rivers (NIR), and Southwest Rivers (SWR) basins. Temporally, phytoplankton PP peaked in the 1990s, declined thereafter, but rebounded in the 2020s (decadal sequence: 1990s > 2020s > 2000s > 1980s > 2010s). Seasonal variation followed summer > spring > autumn > winter. Sunshine hours, water depth, and rainfall emerged as dominant phytoplankton PP drivers. National phytoplankton PP extrapolation reached 22.08 Tg O2 a -1 (1Tg=10 12 g), equivalent to 6.62 Tg carbon sequestration capacity. Our analysis delineates spatio-temporal patterns of phytoplankton PP in Chinese reservoirs and underscores its significance for regional carbon budgets and aquatic ecosystem dynamics.
Keywords: Phytoplankton primary productivity, temporal and spatial variations, Influencing factors, Carbon Sequestration, Chinese reservoirs
Received: 21 Apr 2025; Accepted: 09 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Deng, Zheng, Cai, Wu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Haojun Deng, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing, China
Qun Cai, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing, China
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