The carbon cycle in lakes has been receiving great concerns and has become a hot issue.This study aimed at investigating the characteristics of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) and its influence on methane emission based on continuous field sampling in a year cycle from algal-dominated zones of Lake Taihu.Results showed that the DOC with mean value of 4.15 mg/L varied spatially due to external input and internal algal blooms.Overall,peak DOC occurred in Northwest Zone and Meiliang Bay,and temporal variations of DOC in the two zones were associated with basin precipitation,especially for Northwest Zone (R²=0.67,P<0.01).It should be noted that the temporal variation of DOC in Central Zone were highly positively correlated with algal biomass mostly due to the less external input.The CH₄ diffusion emission flux with mean value of 0.083 mmol·m^-2·d^-1 varied greatly across zones.Algal blooms significantly stimulated the CH₄ emissions via increasing DOC concentration.Overall,the algal-dominated lake was a hot spot of CH₄ emission due to DOC enrichment.Considering the effects of DOC on lake CH₄ emission was regulated by multiple factors related to internal metabolic activities and external loading,further studies are needed to reveal the potential control mechanism.