title: Effects of engineered application of Eichhornia crassipes on the benthic macroinvertebrate diversity in Lake Dianchi, an ultra-eutrophic lake in China.
abstract: An ecological engineering project with confined growth of 1.5 km(2) of Eichhornia crassipes was implemented to remove pollutants in Lake Dianchi. To assess the ecological effects of this project on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, a 1-year investigation at the areas inside and outside E. crassipes mats was conducted from May 2013 to May 2014. All the 10 sampling sites in the areas were grouped into two statistically significant clusters mainly corresponding to inside and outside E. crassipes mat areas (EMAs), by clustering analysis. E. crassipes reduced the densities of pollution indicator taxa (e.g., Oligochaeta and Chironomidae larvae); thus, the total densities of benthic macroinvertebrates at the area inside EMAs (mean 328.2 ind./m(2)) were slightly lower than that at the area outside EMAs (mean 505.6 ind./m(2)). Four functional feeding groups including 38 species of benthic macroinvertebrates were collected at the area inside EMAs, while only three functional feeding groups containing 17 species were collected at the area outside EMAs. The biodiversity indices (Shannon-Weiner, Margalef, Simpson, and Peilou indices) and K-dominance curves also showed higher diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates at the area inside EMAs than at the area outside EMAs. These results suggested that a certain scale of engineering application of E. crassipes was beneficial to benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the ultra-eutrophic Lake Dianchi and it could be used as a pioneer species in ultra-eutrophic lake for pollutant removal.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resource and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Environment and Disaster Monitoring and Evaluation, Hubei, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430077, China. zwang@whigg.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resource and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, China.
authors.forename: Zhenghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China.
authors.forename: Junqian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resource and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, China.
authors.forename: Junyao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Environment and Disaster Monitoring and Evaluation, Hubei, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430077, China.
authors.forename: Enhua
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Environment and Disaster Monitoring and Evaluation, Hubei, Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430077, China.
authors.forename: Xuelei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resource and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, China.
authors.forename: Haiqin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resource and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, China. shyan@jaas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Shaohua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D002683:Chironomidae; D031806:Eichhornia / Q000254:growth & development*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D005068:Eutrophication; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry
keywords: Biodiversity; Ecological effects; Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth); Eutrophic lake; Zoobenthos community