Intensive fishing and algae blooms threaten Lake Taihu ecosystem balance.
A model was created to study Lake Taihu's ecosystem from 1961 to 2002. It showed that overfishing and pollution led to changes in fish populations. Small, fast-reproducing fish took over as larger fish and predators declined. Algae blooms from too many nutrients also affected the ecosystem. To fix these issues, we should reduce fishing of top predators and control lower trophic level species.