Dinoflagellate cysts, as micro-fossil, could be used to trace environmental change history, such as water eutrophication and climate change. But there is controversy on how to indicate water eutrophication, and also it is a problem how to differ the signals between water eutrophication and climate change in dinoflagellate cysts. In order to address these problems, we collected four sediment cores in the Changjiang River Estuary and analyzed their dinoflagellate cysts. Results showed that eutrophication could lead to the increase of total dinoflagellate cysts and Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) productive dinoflagellate cysts abundance. And the ratio of hetero/autotrophic dinoflagellate cysts decreased, which implied that the eutrophication mainly resulted from agriculture and domestic sewage in the Changjiang River Estuary. Because of water plume, the eutrophication signal was relatively weak near estuary, strong in middle distance and almost none in far distance. Seasonal change of dinoflagellate cysts was observed in the high sediment sinking area in the estuary, with the lowest production in winter as a result of low temperature. ENSO events will lead to the peak and valley value of dinoflagellate cysts abundance by affecting nutrient input which is transferred by river downloading. Moreover, the signal also varied with the distance: valley and peak value of dinoflagellate cysts present because of strong and weak river runoff pulse near estuary, peak and valley value of dinoflagellate cysts and runoff overlapped and were clear in middle distance, and peak value of dinoflagellate cysts was obvious in far distance but the domain reason was complex. These findings are of great significance to environment history reconstruction, study of red tide history and ENSO events.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |