A laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different natural food on the growth and reproduction ofDaphnia carinata. The natural food came from the three lakes: Lake Huashen, Lake Xuanwu and Lake Nanhu with differentconcentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. D. carinata had the lowest growth rate and all died before starting reproduction with thefood from Lake Huashen. Both nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton biomass in Lake Xuanwu were lower than that in LakeNanhu. However, the growth rate, the average body length and the reproductive capacity of D. Carinatacultured with the food from LakeXuanwu were higher than that in Lake Nanhu. The experiment showed that the nutrition level of nitrogen and phosphorus and the foodconcentration had an evident influence on the growth and reproduction of D. Carinata. When the nutrition level of nitrogen andphosphorus and the food concentration in the lakes were too high or low, the growth and reproduction of D. Carinatawould be restrained.