Combined Effects of Flood Disturbances and Nutrient Enrichment Prompt Aquatic Vegetation Expansion: Sediment Evidence...

Aquatic macrophytes are a vital component of lake ecosystems, profoundly influencing ecosystem structure and function. Under future scenarios of more frequent extreme floods and intensified lake eutrophication, aquatic macrophytes will face increasing challenges. Therefore, understanding aquatic macrophyte responses to flood disturbances and nutrient enrichment is crucial for predicting future vegetation dynamics in lake ecosystems. This study focuses on Huangmaotan Lake, a Yangtze River floodplain lake, where we reconstructed 200-year successional trajectories of macrophyte communities and their driving mechanisms. With a multiproxy approach we analyzed a well-dated sediment core incorporating plant macrofossils, grain size, nutrient elements, heavy metals, and historical flood records from the watershed. The results demonstrate a significant shift in the macrophyte community, from species that existed before 1914 to species that existed by 2020. Unlike the widespread macrophyte degradation seen in most regional lakes, this lake has maintained clear-water plant dominance and experienced continuous vegetation expansion over the past 50 years. We attribute this to the interrelated effects of floods and the enrichment of ecosystems with nutrients. Specifically, our findings suggest that nutrient enrichment can mitigate the stress effects of floods on aquatic macrophytes, while flood disturbances help reduce excess nutrient concentrations in the water column. These findings offer applicable insights for aquatic vegetation restoration in the Yangtze River floodplain and other comparable lake systems worldwide.