Terrestrial nutrient exports and environmental changes explain eutrophication trends in fifty large lakes of Yangtze Plain, China

Terrestrial nutrient exports and environmental changes explain eutrophication trends in fifty large lakes of Yangtze Plain, China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Terrestrial nutrient exports and environmental changes explain eutrophication trends in fifty large lakes of Yangtze Plain, China Qi Guan, Jing Tang, Lian Feng, Stefan Olin, Guy Schurgers This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1280737/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Over the past two decades, lakes in Yangtze Plain have suffered from serious eutrophication, in some regions with increased frequency of cyanobacteria blooms over years. In this study, we investigated the underlying causes of eutrophication using a combination of process-based ecosystem modelling and statistical data analysis. We found that terrestrial nutrient exports with runoff have significantly increased from 1979 to 2018 in Yangtze Plain, directly linked to the enhanced usage of chemical fertilizer for crops. Based on statistical analyses of environmental variables, terrestrial nutrient exports and satellite-observed probability of eutrophication occurrence (PEO), we separated the studied fifty lakes into five classes with similarities in environmental and nutrient variations, and attributed key factors in controlling the temporal changes of PEO. The results showed that the satellite-observed PEO trends in five classes could be largely linked to the terrestrial nutrient exports and environmental changes. Specifically, we found agricultural activities can explain the observed eutrophication trends in western lakes where lake catchments are dominated with arable and natural land, and the reduced discharge of industrial wastewater was found to be linked to the declining trends in eutrophication for eastern lakes where the green growth of industrialization were promoted from 2003 to 2011. These findings highlight the importance of sustainable management of agriculture and industrialization to overcome eutrophication issues in this region. Ecological Modeling Terrestrial Ecology Eutrophication LPJ-GUESS Terrestrial nutrient exports Fertilizer Yangtze Plain Full Text Declarations Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-1280737","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":78045352,"identity":"9afa3206-08b4-4cef-8e82-2af6ad660cae","order_by":0,"name":"Qi Guan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qi","middleName":"","lastName":"Guan","suffix":""},{"id":78045353,"identity":"fcb8ceac-1c20-4fd4-a191-e3cba3407627","order_by":1,"name":"Jing 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