Macrophyte-based lake restoration has successfully transitioned lakes from turbid conditions dominated by phytoplankton to a more natural, clear state
however, its impact on microbial carbon pump-mediated dissolved organic carbon (DOM) storage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the aquatic ecosystem remains largely unexplored. Through a year-long field study, we conducted a comparative analysis of two alternative habitats within the same lake-restored and unrestored areas. Results demonstrated that restoration not only substantially decreases nutrient levels and algal blooms-evidenced by over 50% reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus, and chlorophyll a-but also significantly increases the accumulation of recalcitrant DOM. This is characterized by rises of 9.52% in highly unsaturated compounds, 8.68% in carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules, 37.54% polycyclic condensed aromatics and polyphenols, and 20.21% in SUVA