Sources, Migration, Transformation, and Environmental Effects of Organic Carbon in Eutrophic Lakes: A Critical Review

Organic carbon (OC) plays a leading role in the carbon cycle of lakes and is crucial to carbon balances at regional and even global scales. In eutrophic lakes, in addition to external river inputs, the decomposition of endogenous grass and algae is a major source of organic carbon. Outbreaks of algal blooms (algal eutrophication) and the rapid growth of aquatic grasses (grass eutrophication) can lead to the accumulation and decay of large amounts of algae and aquatic grass debris, which increases the intensity of the carbon cycle of lakes and greatly impacts aquatic environments and ecosystems. The structures, decomposition processes, and distribution characteristics of algae and higher aquatic plant debris in eutrophic lakes are different from mesotrophic and oligotrophic lakes. Studying their accumulation dynamics and driving mechanisms is key to further understanding lake carbon cycles and their many interdependent pathways. This paper focuses on the carbon sources, tracing technologies, migration and transformation processes, and environmental effects of OC in eutrophic lakes. Based on the existing knowledge, we further combed the literature to identify the most important knowledge gaps preventing an in-depth understanding of the processes and driving mechanisms of the organic carbon cycle in eutrophic lakes.