Limiting factors on aquatic ecological health of Caizi Lake, a Changjiang River-isolated shallow lake: implications for lake restoration

Zihao SONG; Guangwei ZHU; Mengyuan ZHU; Hai XU; Yongjiu CAI; Yunlin ZHANG; Zhifan GUI; Wei ZOU; Zhongya FAN

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Limiting factors on aquatic ecological health of Caizi Lake, a Changjiang River-isolated shallow lake: implications for lake restoration

Ecology | Updated：2025-12-16

- Limiting factors on aquatic ecological health of Caizi Lake, a Changjiang River-isolated shallow lake: implications for lake restoration
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Vol. 43, Issue 6, Pages: 1923-1937(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Hubei Normal University, Huangshi 435002, China
  2.State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
  3.The Key Laboratory of Water and Air Pollution Control of Guangdong Province, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510530, China
- Author bio：
  
  gzf249@hbnu.edu.cn
  wzou@niglas.ac.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：
  CLC：
- Received：06 August 2024，
  
  Online First：24 February 2025，
  
  Published：01 November 2025
- Accepted：
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SONG Zihao,ZHU Guangwei,ZHU Mengyuan,et al.Limiting factors on aquatic ecological health of Caizi Lake, a Changjiang River-isolated shallow lake: implications for lake restoration[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(06):1923-1937.
DOI：

SONG Zihao,ZHU Guangwei,ZHU Mengyuan,et al.Limiting factors on aquatic ecological health of Caizi Lake, a Changjiang River-isolated shallow lake: implications for lake restoration[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(06):1923-1937. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

Shallow lakes of the middle-lower reaches of Changjiang (Yangtze) River are a globally unique ecosystem essential for the regional sustainable economic development. These lakes have recently been under pressure from both human activities and climate change

underscoring the need for research on their ecological health and drivers. However

most previous studies focused on large lakes (i.e.

over 500 km

) and limited ecological elements

such as nutrient levels. Caizi Lake

a relatively small (approximately 226 km

)

a Changjiang River-isolated shallow lake

was chosen as a case of study. We assessed its ecological health and analyzed the

driving forces using an integrated dataset from in situ observations

remote sensing

and historical data. Our findings indicate that in 2023

the mean ecological health score

reflecting from all selected elements—algal bloom area

zooplankton

macroinvertebrates

macrophytes coverage

comprehensive trophic level index

and biodiversity—was 50.4 out of the maximum of 100. Notably

the ecological health scores for macrophytes coverage (1.9)

macroinvertebrates (17.2)

and biodiversity (44.0) were particularly low. In 1960–2007

the ecological health was deteriorated as the macrophytes coverage was dropped from 80% to 50%. The degradation of macroinvertebrate communities and a decrease in biodiversity might be primarily due to the eutrophication-induced abnormal algal proliferation. In 2007–2023

elevated water levels might degrade the macrophytes coverage and other aspects of ecological health. Therefore

we proposed an ecological health restoration plan for Caizi Lake focusing on nutrient reduction and water level regulation on the thresholds of total nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations

an and provided a reference for the protection of Caizi Lake and other cases having similar hydromorphic background.

关键词

Keywords

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