Biological assessment metrics and water chemistry measurements are used to quantify the link between stressors and their effects on lake ecosystems, for the Water Framework Directive. However, correlations between metrics and water chemistry are often poor. This is seen as major weaknesses of Water Framework Directive-related monitoring and assessment. We analyzed macrophytes, benthic algae, benthic macroinvertebrates, water chemistry and sediment total phosphorus content in the littoral of six lakes in the Western Balkans and used CORINE land use data to estimate nutrient enrichment via runoff from the adjacent land. Lakes with a higher estimated phosphorus runoff from the adjacent land did not have higher littoral water nutrient concentrations, but littoral diatom assemblages indicated more eutrophic conditions. These lakes also had higher abundances of littoral benthic primary producers, which in turn were associated with low concentrations of dissolved nutrients, but only in autumn, not in spring. This is consistent with primary producers taking up nutrients during the summer growth season. In lakes with high abundances of benthic primary producers, it is likely that the littoral vegetation plays a large role in the transfer of nutrients from the water to the benthos. This process impairs correlations between biological metrics and water nutrient concentrations. Our results suggest that CORINE land cover may be more useful to characterize littoral nutrient enrichment than lake water chemistry. Increased benthic primary producer biomasses and "eutrophic" diatom indices may indicate littoral nutrient enrichment even if water nutrient concentrations are low.

Charophyte species delineation is regularly based on a set of thallus morphological characteristics, but considering pronounced phenotypic plasticity, difficulties and doubts commonly occur in Chara species determination. DNA barcoding may contribute to solving these challenges. Here we characterize Chara contraria with an unusual set of morphological characteristics, and specimens morphologically resembling Chara connivens collected in Serbia, by describing their morphological traits and analysing matK barcoding results. Our results indicated that dioecious Chara specimens, tentatively determined as Chara “connivens” based on morphological traits, were genetically more closely related to C. globularis. These Chara “connivens” specimens formed a sister group to a monophyletic C. globularis cluster, suggesting that it may be neither C. connivens nor C. globularis. We strongly encourage further barcoding of C. “connivens” samples from freshwater, in order to find out if there are consistent genetic differences between the dioecious freshwater C. “connivens” and monoecious C. globularis. Barcoding of matK placed the monoecious Chara specimens, which based on morphological characteristics initially were determined as C. virgata, into the C. contraria group. This indicates that the microscopic traits which commonly are used for Chara species determination sometimes are misleading. In general, our study challenges the commonly used phenetic species concept in Charophyte taxonomy and illustrates the importance of molecular approaches to evaluate the validity of morphological characteristics of the plant thallus in species delineation.

This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: mycorrhizal fungus Russula sapinea, parasitic fungus Podosphaera polemonii, saprotrophic fungi Ophiognomonia melanostyla and Plagiostoma apiculatum, diatom alga Nitzschia reskoi, stonewort Nitellopsis obtusa, liverwort Mannia triandra, mosses Buxbaumia viridis and Leptodon smithii, monocots Epipactis purpurata and Orchis ? beyrichii and dicots Euphorbia orjeni, Fallopia ? bohemica, Nuphar lutea and Saxifraga pedemontana subsp. cymosa.

This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: saprotrophic fungus Geastrum morganii, Guignardia istriaca and Hypoxylon howeanum, mycorrhizal fungus Amanita friabilis and Suillus americanus, xanthophyte Vaucheria frigida, stonewort Chara hispida, liverwort Calypogeia integristipula and Ricciocarpus natans, moss Campylopus introflexus, Dicranum transsylvanicum, Tortella pseudofragilis and Trematodon ambiguus, fern Ophioglossum vulgatum subsp. vulgatum, monocots Epipactis exilis, Epipactis purpurata and Epipogium aphyllum and dicots Callitriche cophocarpa, Cornus sanguinea subsp. hungarica and Viscum album subsp. austriacum are given within SE Europe and adjacent regions.

This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: red algae Lemanea fucina and Paralemanea annulata, parasitic fungus Anthracoidea pratensis, saprotrophic fungi Cyathus olla, Massaria campestris, and Xylaria sicula, stonewort Chara canescens, liverworts Gymnomitrion commutatum and Porella baueri, moss Acaulon triquetrum, monocots Anacamptis laxiflora, Cephalanthera damasonium, and Himantoglossum robertianum and dicot Jacobaea othonnae are given within SE Europe and adjacent regions.

In Serbia, almost all charophyte species belong to one of the IUCN categories. This study aimed to gather more knowledge about their floristic richness, distribution and ecology. During the survey, 262 localities were investigated in the Vojvodina province, northern Serbia. Seventeen charophyte species were found, out of which 16 were included in the analyses. The environmental matrix included 38 localities, each characterized by habitat type and 35 environmental parameters. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed six parameters as being statistically significant: substrate, altitude, depth, water temperature, temperature annual range and precipitation of the driest month. Together, these explain the 32.34% variability in the species composition and abundance data. Altitude and substrate contributed the most to this. Two main types of habitats were outlined by the analysis. Small and shallow temporary habitats in the river floodplains, at lower altitudes, with muddy and clayish substrate, belong to one type. These areas are inhabited by either very tolerant species, such as Chara vulgaris and C. globularis, or the so-called “spring” species of the genera Tolypella and Nitella. Habitats which are located at higher altitudes, when deeper and more permanent with a sandy substrate, such as sandpits and river habitats, belong to the second one. These areas are inhabited by species like Chara papillosa, C. hispida, and Nitellopsis obtusa.