The effects of climate change on the development of phytoplankton in the Uchinsk Reservoir of the Moscow Canal

Abstract

In the climate of European Russia, there are significant changes: before the year 2010, the tendency of warm period temperature to drop with a simultaneous increase in precipitation was dominated but nowadays it is dominated a reverse trend to increase average and maximum temperatures, decrease in precipitation, and increase in the number of sunny days. This creates the most favourable conditions for the development of phytoplankton and zooplankton consuming it. Our research exemplified by the Uchinsky Reservoir has established that since 2010 the number of phytoplankton has been increasing multiply with the development of blue-green algae at the end of the warm period, and it adversely affects the quality of water, leading to the development of eutrophication processes. The factors limiting the number of phytoplankton are the development of zooplankton and almost total consumption of ammonium nitrogen by phytoplankton. To manage the development of phytoplankton due to the most favourable climate conditions, a set of measures is required to reduce the intake of biogenic elements into the water of the Reservoir.