The Impact of Submerged Plant Degradation in Lashihai on Biodiversity

Peng Qingyang

doi:10.23977/erej.2026.100114

The Impact of Submerged Plant Degradation in Lashihai on Biodiversity

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DOI: 10.23977/erej.2026.100114 | Downloads: 0 | Views: 57

Author(s)

Peng Qingyang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Yantai Institute, China Agricultural University, Yantai, China

Corresponding Author

Peng Qingyang

ABSTRACT

Lashi Lake is a typical plateau lake wetland, and in 2004 it was designated as an internationally important wetland, providing critical habitat for invertebrates, fish, and waterbirds. However, multiple human-induced stresses, including hydrological regulation, nutrient enrichment, and biological disturbances, are increasingly threatening its submerged vegetation. This review integrates long-term monitoring data from Lashi Lake and is supplemented with parallel cases from other lakes on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, such as Erhai Lake, Dianchi Lake, Fuxian Lake, Jian Lake, Yilong Lake, and Xingyun Lake. The results show that 13 years of dam construction in Lashi Lake led to the complete disappearance of three sensitive communities, including fan-leaf water buttercup, while tolerant species such as Myriophyllum spicatum expanded. Similarly, near Erhai Lake, water level fluctuations over nearly 50 years accelerated the transition from clear-water state to turbid-water state; in Dianchi Lake, the introduction of grass carp caused the extinction of Najas minor; in Yilong Lake, industrial and agricultural pollution led to the disappearance of submerged plants and water quality deteriorated to worse than Class V. Cascade effects include a decline of more than 60% in invertebrate abundance, reduction of fish species from over ten to 3-5, disappearance of black storks, and a reduction of grey heron populations by over 30%. These findings reveal a complete stress-response cascade, from physiological stress to community succession, and ultimately to food web collapse. Despite these understandings, long-term monitoring data remain scarce, and the interactive mechanisms of multiple stresses are still unclear. Future efforts should prioritize long-term multidimensional monitoring, mechanism-focused experiments, and AI-driven data integration to support the scientific restoration of plateau lakes.

KEYWORDS

Submerged macrophytes; Lashi Lake; Multiple stressors; Biodiversity loss; Plateau wetlands

CITE THIS PAPER

Peng Qingyang. The Impact of Submerged Plant Degradation in Lashihai on Biodiversity. Environment, Resource and Ecology Journal (2026). Vol. 10, No.1, 109-114. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/erej.2026.100113.

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The Impact of Submerged Plant Degradation in Lashihai on Biodiversity

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