Using aquatic macrophyte community indices to define the ecological status of European lakes

Penning, W. Ellis; Dudley, Bernard; Mjelde, Marit; Hellsten, Seppo; Hanganu, Jenika; Kolada, Agnieszka; van den Berg, Marcel; Poikane, Sandra; Phillips, Geoff; Willby, Nigel; Ecke, Frauke. 2008 Using aquatic macrophyte community indices to define the ecological status of European lakes. Aquatic Ecology, 42 (2). 253-264. 10.1007/s10452-008-9183-x

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Abstract/Summary

Defining the overall ecological status of lakes according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is to be partially based on the species composition of the aquatic macrophyte community. We tested three assessment methods to define the ecological status of the macrophyte community in response to a eutrophication pressure as reflected by total phosphorus concentrations in lake water. An absolute species richness, a trophic index (TI) and a lake trophic ranking (LTR) method were tested at Europe-wide, regional and national scales as well as by alkalinity category, using data from 1,147 lakes from 12 European states. Total phosphorus data were used to represent the trophic status of individual samples and were plotted against the calculated TI and LTR values. Additionally, the LTR method was tested in some individual lakes with a relatively long time series of monitoring data. The TI correlated well with total P in the Northern European lake types, whereas the relationship in the Central European lake types was less clear. The relationship between total P and light extinction is often very good in the Northern European lake types compared to the Central European lake types. This can be one of the reasons for a better agreement between the indices and eutrophication pressure in the Northern European lake types. The response of individual lakes to changes in the abiotic environment was sometimes represented incorrectly by the indices used, which is a cause of concern for the use of single indices in status assessments in practice.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1007/s10452-008-9183-x
Programmes:	CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Water > WA02 Quantifying processes that link water quality and quantity, biota and physical environment
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Watt
ISSN:	1386-2588
Additional Keywords:	Aquatic vegetation, Ecological quality, EU Water Framework Directive, Intercalibration, REBECCA, Status assessment
NORA Subject Terms:	Botany Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	13 Oct 2008 15:50 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/4550

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