Water Quality and Microbial Community in the Context of Ecological Restoration: A Case Study of the Yongding River, Beijing, China

Abstract

Ecological water replenishment via interbasin water diversion projects provides opportunities for ecological river restoration. Untangling water quality changes, microbiota dynamics, and community functions is necessary for sustainable ecological management. Using the Yongding River as a case study, we monitored the water quality and applied genomic sequencing to investigate microbial communities of the river in different stages after ecological water replenishment. Our results showed that river water quality represented by chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) did not change significantly during months after water replenishment. The bacterial community composition varied in different months and river subsections. The Cyanobium_PCC-6307, CL500-29 marine group, and Pseudomonas were dominant in the later stages after water replenishment. Water temperature, pH, and nutrient levels significantly affected the microbial community composition, and ecological restoration may have the potential to influence nitrogen cycling in the river. Our results can provide ecological insights into sustainable water quality maintenance and river management following ecological restoration enabled by ecological water replenishment.