Phytoplankton and Bacterial Community Structure in Two Chinese Lakes of Different Trophic Status

Abstract

Phytoplankton are the primary producers at the basis of aquatic food webs, and bacteria play an important role in energy flow and biochemical cycling in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, both the bacterial and phytoplankton communities were examined in the oligotrophic Lake Basomtso and the eutrophic Lake South (China). The results of this study showed that the phytoplankton density and diversity in the eutrophic lake were higher than those in the oligotrophic lake. Furthermore, Chlorophyta (68%) and Cryptophyta (24%) were the dominant groups in the eutrophic lake, while Bacillariophyta (95%) dominated in the oligotrophic lake. The bacterial communities in the waters and sediments of the two lakes were mainly composed of Proteobacteria (mean of 32%), Actinobacteria (mean of 25%), Bacteroidetes (mean of 12%), and Chloroflexi (mean of 6%). Comparative analysis showed that the abundance of bacteria in the eutrophic lake was higher than that in the oligotrophic lake (p < 0.05), but the bacterial diversity in the oligotrophic lake was higher than that in the eutrophic lake (p < 0.05). Finally, the bacterial abundance and diversity in the sediments of the two lakes were higher than those in the water samples (p < 0.05), and the Latescibacteria and Nitrospinae groups were identified only in the sediments. These results suggest that both the phytoplankton and bacterial communities differed considerably between the oligotrophic lake and the eutrophic lake.