Relationships between trophic level and phytoplankton community structure of nine lakes in Nanjing city

In this paper, nine lakes of Nanjing city (Huashen Lake, Baijia Lake, Yueya Lake, Mochou Lake, Nanhu Lake, Pipa Lake, Qianhu Lake, Zixia Lake, and Xuanwu Lake) were selected and sampled seasonally, in order to analyze relationships between trophic level and phytoplankton community structure. Results showed that two lakes were mesotrophic, three lakes were light eutrophic, three lakes were medium eutrophic, and even one lake was heavy eutrophic. Cyanobacteria dominated in Yueya Lake, Mochou Lake, Nanhu Lake, and Xuanwu Lake, where eutrophication level was fairly high. Relationships between trophic level and algal richness showed significant negative correlation.