Defining physico-chemical variables, chlorophyll-a and Secchi depth reference conditions in northeast eco-region lakes, China

Establishing reference conditions for regional lakes is necessary to assess human impact on aquatic ecosystems, protect water quality and biotic integrity. The northeast eco-region lakes often present a marked seasonal variability in hydrological, biological and geochemical processes, which could affect physico-chemical variables, chlorophyll-a and Secchi depth reference conditions. Reference conditions were calculated using two different methods: lake population distribution method and trisection method. General physico-chemical reference conditions (pH, conductivity, BOD and nutrients) and chlorophyll-a, and Secchi depth reference conditions were established using the two approaches combined with the analysis of seasonal variability for each parameter for shallow and deep lake types in the northeast eco-region lakes. The results indicated that depth was an important factor affecting physico-chemical variables, chlorophyll-a and Secchi depth reference values. Moreover, the seasonal differences in parameters were also assessed using a non-parametric repeated measure ANOVA (Friedman test) in the shallow and deep lakes. Some parameters showed a seasonal variability for shallow and deep lakes. The least restrictive reference values of the four seasons were proposed to simplify the water quality assessment for regional lake management goals. These results indicated that the 50th percentile (median) value from the best one-third of the nutrient-concentration data distributions is more appropriate for the northeast eco-region lakes.