ABSTRACT
Phytoplankton samples were collected monthly from May to October in 2009 from the Demonstration Plots (DP) and Control Plots (CP) of an Enhanced Ecological Floating Bed (EEFB), which was set up in three segments of Luocun River. A total of 171 phytoplankton species were identified in the river. Out of them, 145 and 135 species were detected in the DP and CP, respectively. The richness, abundance, biovolume, Margalef index (DM ) and Shannon-Wiener index (H’) were higher in the DP than those in the CP in 94.44%, 66.67%, 66.67%, 94.44% and 88.89% of the paired-samples, respectively. The similarity coefficient ranged from 0.25 to 0.78 between the CP and DP in three segments. The results of a paired-samples T test showed that the richness and DM were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the DP and CP in three segments. The results of the relative dominance (Dr ), which indicates a change in dominant species, showed that the community has altered in 50% of the paired-samples. The results indicated that the EEFB could improve the structure and stability of the phytoplankton community.
