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The Korean Society of Phycology (한국조류학회(藻類))
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Long-term variations in plankton community structure and environmental drivers in Korean artificial lake

  • Hye Jeong Choi (Environmental Research Institute, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Yukyong Cheong (Climate Change Research Institute of Korea) ;
  • Man-Sig Jun (Research Institute for Gangwon) ;
  • Moon Sook Kim (Research Institute for Gangwon) ;
  • Hojeong Yeom (Interdisciplinary Program in Earth Environmental System Science & Engineering, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Seyoon Jung (Interdisciplinary Program in Earth Environmental System Science & Engineering, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Yong-Bin An (Department of Environment Science, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Yoonseok Kim (Department of Environment Science, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Mingyeong Bak (Interdisciplinary Program in Earth Environmental System Science & Engineering, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Bomchul Kim (Department of Environment Science, Kangwon National University) ;
  • Eun-Mi Hong (Interdisciplinary Program in Earth Environmental System Science & Engineering, Kangwon National University)
  • Received : 2025.02.22
  • Accepted : 2025.08.12
  • Published : 2025.09.15
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Abstract

With the intensification of global warming, the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater ecosystems have become more prolonged and frequent. As phytoplankton and zooplankton are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions such as temperature, light intensity, and nutrients, understanding how environmental factors affect plankton community structure can help to predict the response of freshwater ecosystems to climate change. However, studies on the long-term monitoring of plankton community structure in Lake Soyang, an important source of drinking water for metropolitan areas in South Korea, and other domestic freshwater systems in Korea remain limited. Here, we investigated the changes in phytoplankton and zooplankton community composition in response to environmental factors in Lake Soyang during a long-term survey period. The results revealed that diatoms were negatively correlated (p < 0.001) with the water temperature and electric conductivity of the lake. Meanwhile, cyanobacteria and green algae, which appeared frequently in summer, were positively correlated (p < 0.05) with the pH and chlorophyll-a concentration of the lake. The occurrence patterns of diatoms were negatively correlated with all the zooplankton taxa identified in Lake Soyang; in contrast, the occurrence patterns of cyanobacteria, such HAB-causing Microcystis aeruginosa, and green algae were positively correlated with those of rotifera, copepoda, and protozoa. These findings will aid in predicting the impacts of climate change on freshwater ecosystems.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the National LongTerm Ecological Research Project, National Institute of Ecology and by the Basic Research Project, National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF, No. 2022R1C1C1010804).

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