Temporal and spatial trends in water quality of Lake Taihu, China: analysis from a north to mid-lake transect, 1991-2011.

Interpretations of state and trends in lake water quality are generally based on measurements from one or more stations that are considered representative of the response of the lake ecosystem. The objective of this study is to examine how these interpretations may be influenced by station location in a large lake. We addressed this by analyzing trends in water quality variables collected monthly from eight monitoring stations along a transect from the central lake to the north in Lake Taihu (area about 2,338 km(2)), China, from October 1991 to December 2011.