Data from: Environmental DNA metabarcoding revealed the impacts of anthropogenic activities on phytoplankton diversity in Dianchi Lake and its three inflow rivers

Phytoplankton diversity is closely related to environmental
variables and has been widely used in ecological health
assessment of rivers and lakes. Combining the advantages of
DNA-based identification and high-throughput sequencing technology,
environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding permits a new measurement
for biodiversity monitoring in aquatic ecosystems. However, it had rarely
been used to explore the variability and similarity of
phytoplankton diversity between a lake and its
inflow rivers and the effects of environmental variables on
phytoplankton. This study utilized eDNA metabarcoding to
investigate the spatial distribution of phytoplankton and the
impacts of environmental variables on the phytoplankton diversity
in Dianchi Lake (one of the most polluted urban lakes in China) and its
main inflow rivers (Panlong River, Baoxiang River and Chai
River).  The OTU table is  the original table about
phytoplankton taxa. A total of 243 distinct phytoplankton taxa were
detected, covering 9 phyla, 30 classes, 84 orders and
132 families, and the taxonomic richness of rivers was higher
than that of Dianchi Lake.