Application of Circular Bubble Plume Diffusers to Restore Water Quality in a Sub-Deep Reservoir

Unveiling the ecological significance of phosphorus fractions in shaping bacterial and archaeal beta diversity in mesotrophic lakes

Both community variation and phosphorus (P) fractions have been extensively studied in aquatic ecosystems, but how P fractions affect the mechanism underlying microbial beta diversity remains elusive, especially in sediment cores. Here, we obtained two sediment cores to examine bacterial and archaeal beta diversity from mesotrophic lakes Hongfeng Lake and Aha Lake, having historically experienced severe eutrophication. Utilizing the Baselga's framework, we partitioned bacterial and archaeal total beta diversity into two components: species turnover and nestedness, and then examined their sediment-depth patterns and the effects of P fractions on them. We found that total beta diversity, species turnover or nestedness consistently increased with deeper sediment layers regarding bacteria and archaea. Notably, there were parallel patterns between bacteria and archaea for total beta diversity and species turnover, which is largely underlain by equivalent processes such as environmental selection. For both microbial taxa, total beta diversity and species turnover were primarily constrained by metal oxide-bound inorganic P (NaOH-Pi) and sediment total phosphorus (STP) in Hongfeng Lake, while largely affected by reductant-soluble total P or calcium-bound inorganic P in Aha Lake. Moreover, NaOH-Pi and STP could influence bacterial total beta diversity by driving species nestedness in Hongfeng Lake. The joint effects of organic P (Po), inorganic P (Pi) and total P fractions indicated that P fractions are important to bacterial and archaeal beta diversity. Compared to Po fractions, Pi fractions had greater pure effects on bacterial beta diversity. Intriguingly, for total beta diversity and species turnover, archaea rather than bacteria are well-explained by Po fractions in both lakes, implying that the archaeal community may be involved in Po mineralization. Overall, our study reveals the importance of P fractions to the mechanism underlying bacterial and archaeal beta diversity in sediments, and provides theoretical underpinnings for controlling P sources in biodiversity conservation.

Organic phosphorus regeneration enhanced since eutrophication occurred in the sub-deep reservoir

Lake eutrophication remains a serious environmental problem of global significance, and phosphorus (P) plays a key role in lake eutrophication. Internal P loading, as a result of P release from sediments, is gathering more and more recognition as an important source governing the P availability in these ecosystems. Anoxic condition can promote the release of P associated with Fe oxides, which has already been a consensus. However, it is still unknown whether the anoxic conditions induced by eutrophication act to intensify or weaken the regeneration of organic P (P_org) in sediments. We selected the Hongfeng Reservoir, a typical sub-deep lake, to study the regeneration behaviours of C and P in the sediments buried before and after eutrophication. The results showed that P_org did not significantly increase with the rapid increase in organic C (C_org) since eutrophication occurred. Furthermore, the organic C/P ratio was much higher in sediments buried after eutrophication than in those buried before, which indicated that P_org regeneration had been significantly enhanced since eutrophication occurred. Based on C/P ratios, our estimation suggested that the P_org regeneration and P release from sediment to water approximately enhanced 45.2% ± 8.7% and 34.5% ± 9.8%, respectively. Elevated primary productivity (algae) and the corresponding hypoxic/anoxic condition, both caused by eutrophication, promoted P biogeochemical cycle in the sub-deep reservoir. This study further verifies the significant contribution of regenerated P_org to the internal P load, and highlights the importance of controlling P release from sediments in order to restore clear water ecosystems in sub-deep lakes or reservoirs.