Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Water

Volume

13

Issue

15

Publisher

MDPI AG

Publication Date

7-29-2021

Keywords

Mekong River Basin, Tonle Sap Lake, Tonle Sap River, hydroclimate, tropical lake, Cambodia

First Page

1

Last Page

19

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

Tonle Sap lake-river floodplain ecosystem (TSE) is one of the world’s most productive freshwater systems. Changes in hydrology, climate, population density, and land use influence water quality in this system. We investigated long term water quality dynamics (22 years) in space and time and identified potential changes in nutrient limitation based on nutrient ratios of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus. Water quality was assessed at five sites highlighting the dynamics in wet and dry seasons. Predictors of water quality included watershed land use, climate, population, and water level. Most water quality parameters varied across TSE, except pH and nitrate that remained constant at all sites. In the last decade, there is a change in the chemical nutrient ratio suggesting that nitrogen may be the primary limiting nutrient across the system. Water quality was strongly affected by development in the watershed i.e., flooded forest loss, climatic variation, population growth, and change in water level. Seasonal variations of water quality constituents were driven by precipitation and hydrology, notably the Mekong’s distinct seasonal flood pulse.

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