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Sandra Poikane
European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), Via Enrico Fermi 274, 21027 Ispra, VA, Italy

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Journal article
Published: 13 August 2021 in Science of The Total Environment
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Triggered by the adoption of the Water Framework Directive, a variety of fish-based systems were developed throughout Europe to assess the ecological status of lakes. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of all existing systems and summarizes sampling methods, fish community traits (metrics) and the relevant anthropogenic pressures assessed by them. Twenty-one European countries developed fish-based assessment systems. Three countries each developed two distinct systems to approach different ecoregions, either to use different data, or to assess different lake types leading to a total number of 24 systems. The most common approach for the setting of reference conditions, used in seventeen systems, was the utilisation of fish communities in comparably undisturbed natural lakes as reference. Eleven used expert judgment, nine historical data and eight modelled relationships. Fourteen systems combined at least two approaches. The most common fish sampling method was a standardized fishing procedure with multimesh-gillnets. Many countries applied combinations of fishing methods, e.g. non-standard gillnets, fyke nets and electrofishing. Altogether 177 metrics were used for index development and each system combined 2–13 metrics. The most common ones were total standardized catches of number and biomass, relative abundance of Perca fluviatilis, Rutilus rutilus, and Abramis brama, feeding preferences, sensitive species, and non-natives. The pressure-response-relationships for these metrics were supported with both correlations established during system development and scientific publications. However, the metrics and their combinations were highly diverse and no metric was applied universally. Our analysis reveals that most fish-based assessment systems address multiple pressures (eutrophication, hydromorphological alterations, fishery pressure and occurrence of non-natives), whilst few are pressure-specific, tackling only eutrophication or acidification. We argue that the value of fish-based systems for lakes lies in their capacity to capture the effect of many different pressures and their interactions which is lacking for most assessment systems based on other biota.

ACS Style

David Ritterbusch; Petr Blabolil; Jan Breine; Tibor Erős; Thomas Mehner; Mikko Olin; Graeme Peirson; Pietro Volta; Sandra Poikane. European fish-based assessment reveals high diversity of systems for determining ecological status of lakes. Science of The Total Environment 2021, 802, 149620 .

AMA Style

David Ritterbusch, Petr Blabolil, Jan Breine, Tibor Erős, Thomas Mehner, Mikko Olin, Graeme Peirson, Pietro Volta, Sandra Poikane. European fish-based assessment reveals high diversity of systems for determining ecological status of lakes. Science of The Total Environment. 2021; 802 ():149620.

Chicago/Turabian Style

David Ritterbusch; Petr Blabolil; Jan Breine; Tibor Erős; Thomas Mehner; Mikko Olin; Graeme Peirson; Pietro Volta; Sandra Poikane. 2021. "European fish-based assessment reveals high diversity of systems for determining ecological status of lakes." Science of The Total Environment 802, no. : 149620.

Review
Published: 30 January 2021 in Water
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The Water Framework Directive requires that the ecological status of surface waters be monitored and managed if necessary. A central function in ecological status assessment has the Biological Quality Elements—organisms inhabiting surface waters—by indicating human impact on their habitat. For benthic invertebrates, a wide array of national methods are used, but to date no comprehensive summary of metrics and methods is available. In this study, we summarize the benthic invertebrate community metrics used in national systems to assess the ecological status of rivers, (very) large rivers, and lakes. Currently, benthic invertebrate assemblages are used in 26 national assessment systems for rivers, 13 assessment systems for very large rivers, and 21 assessment systems for lakes in the EU. In the majority of systems, the same metrics and modules are used. In the Red Queen’s race of ecosystem management this may be a disadvantage as these same metrics and module likely depict the same stressors but there is growing evidence that aquatic ecosystems are subject to highly differentiated, complex multiple stressor impacts. Method development should be fostered to identify and rank impacts in multi-stressor environments. DNA-based biomonitoring 2.0 offers to detect stressors with greater accuracy—if new tools are calibrated.

ACS Style

Simon Vitecek; Richard Johnson; Sandra Poikane. Assessing the Ecological Status of European Rivers and Lakes Using Benthic Invertebrate Communities: A Practical Catalogue of Metrics and Methods. Water 2021, 13, 346 .

AMA Style

Simon Vitecek, Richard Johnson, Sandra Poikane. Assessing the Ecological Status of European Rivers and Lakes Using Benthic Invertebrate Communities: A Practical Catalogue of Metrics and Methods. Water. 2021; 13 (3):346.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Simon Vitecek; Richard Johnson; Sandra Poikane. 2021. "Assessing the Ecological Status of European Rivers and Lakes Using Benthic Invertebrate Communities: A Practical Catalogue of Metrics and Methods." Water 13, no. 3: 346.

Journal article
Published: 18 January 2021 in Water
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Highly humic lakes are typical for the boreal zone. These unique ecosystems are characterised as relatively undisturbed habitats with brown water, high acidity, low nutrient content and lack of macrophytes. Current lake assessment methods are not appropriate for ecological assessment of highly humic lakes because of their unique properties and differing human pressures acting on these ecosystems. This study proposes a new approach suitable for the ecological status assessment of highly humic lakes impacted by hydrological modifications. Altogether, 52 macroinvertebrate samples from 15 raised bog lakes were used to develop the method. The studied lakes are located in the raised bogs at the central and eastern parts of Latvia. Altered water level was found as the main threat to the humic lake habitats since no other pressures were established. A multimetric index based on macroinvertebrate abundance, littoral and profundal preferences, Coleoptera taxa richness and the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP) Score is suggested as the most suitable tool to assess the ecological quality of the highly humic lakes.

ACS Style

Dāvis Ozoliņš; Agnija Skuja; Jolanta Jēkabsone; Ilga Kokorite; Andris Avotins; Sandra Poikane. How to Assess the Ecological Status of Highly Humic Lakes? Development of a New Method Based on Benthic Invertebrates. Water 2021, 13, 223 .

AMA Style

Dāvis Ozoliņš, Agnija Skuja, Jolanta Jēkabsone, Ilga Kokorite, Andris Avotins, Sandra Poikane. How to Assess the Ecological Status of Highly Humic Lakes? Development of a New Method Based on Benthic Invertebrates. Water. 2021; 13 (2):223.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dāvis Ozoliņš; Agnija Skuja; Jolanta Jēkabsone; Ilga Kokorite; Andris Avotins; Sandra Poikane. 2021. "How to Assess the Ecological Status of Highly Humic Lakes? Development of a New Method Based on Benthic Invertebrates." Water 13, no. 2: 223.

Journal article
Published: 30 November 2020 in Ecological Indicators
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Nutrient pollution remains one of the leading causes of river degradation, making it important to set thresholds that support good ecological condition, which is the main objective of managing Europe's aquatic environment. A wide range of methods has been used by European member states to set river nutrient thresholds in the past, and these vary greatly among countries, even for similar river types. In some countries, thresholds have been set using expert judgement or the statistical distribution of nutrient concentrations. Application of such thresholds creates problems for planning strategies to achieve good ecological status and for managing transboundary river basins. An alternative approach is to examine the statistical relationship between nutrient concentration and one, or more, biological variables. Such relationships can then be used to inform decisions by water managers. We use such 'ecology-based' approaches (univariate regression and mismatch analyses) to derive nutrient thresholds for several river types in Central Europe. Our analysis focused on soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and total nitrogen (TN), two variables which were responsible for significant variation (40–55%) in river benthic floras. In this study, for the first time, river nutrient thresholds are estimated using both macrophytes and phytobenthos (EQRs) separately and in combination, calculated as the minimum and the average of the EQRs of the two sub-elements. The resulting thresholds supporting good ecological status range from 21 to 42 µg/L SRP and 0.9–3.5 mg/L TN for the low alkalinity lowland river type, and 32–90 µg/L SRP and 1.0–2.5 mg/L TN for the low alkalinity mid-altitude river type. These targets are compared to the values set by member states. We demonstrate that some national nutrient thresholds fall within the range of predicted values if uncertainty is taken into consideration; however, several threshold values considerably exceed this range. Adopting ecology-based nutrient targets should improve sustainable river management where nutrients are the major pressure preventing the achievement of good ecological status.

ACS Style

Sandra Poikane; Gábor Várbíró; Martyn G. Kelly; Sebastian Birk; Geoff Phillips. Estimating river nutrient concentrations consistent with good ecological condition: More stringent nutrient thresholds needed. Ecological Indicators 2020, 121, 107017 .

AMA Style

Sandra Poikane, Gábor Várbíró, Martyn G. Kelly, Sebastian Birk, Geoff Phillips. Estimating river nutrient concentrations consistent with good ecological condition: More stringent nutrient thresholds needed. Ecological Indicators. 2020; 121 ():107017.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandra Poikane; Gábor Várbíró; Martyn G. Kelly; Sebastian Birk; Geoff Phillips. 2020. "Estimating river nutrient concentrations consistent with good ecological condition: More stringent nutrient thresholds needed." Ecological Indicators 121, no. : 107017.

Journal article
Published: 14 November 2020 in Ecological Indicators
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Freshwaters face multiple environmental problems including eutrophication, acidification, salinization, and climate-change, all of which can lead to impairment of ecosystem structure and function. Furthermore, these stressors often act in combination. Benthic algal-based assessments to quantify impairment are used in both the EU and US. In this review, we use case studies, experience, and the literature to compare concepts, approaches, and methods between the EU and US to offer an updated picture of benthic algal-based assessments. Both the US and EU are composed of numerous constituent states having considerable flexibility to adopt individual methods. The goal of this work is to synthesize the various approaches that are used across the EU and US. Specifically, we compare and contrast benthic algal assessment performed in response to core legislation – the Water Framework Directive in the EU and the Clean Water Act in the US, with a particular focus on the steps taken to ensure consistency at different stages of the process. This includes consideration of approaches to sampling design and field methods, taxonomic resolution and laboratory harmonization, metric selection and choice of algal groups, assessment of stressors and stressor/response relationships. A number of commonalities emerged during this process, particularly the focus on diatoms over other algal groups. However, there are also a number of key differences, including more widespread use of multimetric indices in the US compared with the EU. Finally, we consider emerging opportunities, including the potential for using metagenomic approaches for bioassessment in the future.

ACS Style

Donald F. Charles; Martyn G. Kelly; R. Jan Stevenson; Sandra Poikane; Susanna Theroux; Aleksandra Zgrundo; Marco Cantonati. Benthic algae assessments in the EU and the US: Striving for consistency in the face of great ecological diversity. Ecological Indicators 2020, 121, 107082 .

AMA Style

Donald F. Charles, Martyn G. Kelly, R. Jan Stevenson, Sandra Poikane, Susanna Theroux, Aleksandra Zgrundo, Marco Cantonati. Benthic algae assessments in the EU and the US: Striving for consistency in the face of great ecological diversity. Ecological Indicators. 2020; 121 ():107082.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Donald F. Charles; Martyn G. Kelly; R. Jan Stevenson; Sandra Poikane; Susanna Theroux; Aleksandra Zgrundo; Marco Cantonati. 2020. "Benthic algae assessments in the EU and the US: Striving for consistency in the face of great ecological diversity." Ecological Indicators 121, no. : 107082.

Review
Published: 09 June 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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The European Union has embarked on a policy which aims to achieve good ecological status in all surface waters (i.e. rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters). In theory, ecological status assessment methods should address the effects of all relevant human pressures. In this study, we analyze the degree to which methods European countries use to assess ecological status tackle various pressures affecting European waters. Nutrient pollution is by far the best-covered pressure for all four water categories. Out of total of 423 assessment methods, 370 assess eutrophication and pressure-specific relationships have been demonstrated for 212 of these. “General degradation” is addressed by 238 methods, mostly validated by relationships to combined pressure indices. Other major pressures have received significantly less effort: hydromorphological degradation is assessed by 160 methods and pressure-specific relationships have been demonstrated for just 40 of these. Hydromorphological pressures are addressed (at least by one BQE) only by 25% countries for coastal waters and 70–80% for lakes and transitional waters. Specific diagnostic tools (i.e. single-pressure relationships) for hydromorphology have only been developed by a few countries: only 20% countries have such methods for lakes, coastal and transitional waters and less than half for rivers. Toxic contamination is addressed by 90 methods; however, pressure-specific relationships have been demonstrated for just eight of these. Only two countries have demonstrated pressure-specific acidification methods for rivers, and three for lakes. In summary, methods currently in use mostly address eutrophication and/or general degradation, but there is not much evidence that they reliably pick up the effects of other significant pressures such as hydromorphology or toxic contamination. Therefore, we recommend that countries re-examine: (1) those pressures which affect different water categories in the country; (2) relevant assessment methods to tackle those pressures; (3) whether pressure-response relationships have been developed for each of these.

ACS Style

Sandra Poikane; Fuensanta Salas Herrero; Martyn G. Kelly; Angel Borja; Sebastian Birk; Wouter van de Bund. European aquatic ecological assessment methods: A critical review of their sensitivity to key pressures. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 740, 140075 .

AMA Style

Sandra Poikane, Fuensanta Salas Herrero, Martyn G. Kelly, Angel Borja, Sebastian Birk, Wouter van de Bund. European aquatic ecological assessment methods: A critical review of their sensitivity to key pressures. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 740 ():140075.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandra Poikane; Fuensanta Salas Herrero; Martyn G. Kelly; Angel Borja; Sebastian Birk; Wouter van de Bund. 2020. "European aquatic ecological assessment methods: A critical review of their sensitivity to key pressures." Science of The Total Environment 740, no. : 140075.

Review
Published: 16 January 2020 in Water
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In this overview (introductory article to a special issue including 14 papers), we consider all main types of natural and artificial inland freshwater habitas (fwh). For each type, we identify the main biodiversity patterns and ecological features, human impacts on the system and environmental issues, and discuss ways to use this information to improve stewardship. Examples of selected key biodiversity/ecological features (habitat type): narrow endemics, sensitive (groundwater and GDEs); crenobionts, LIHRes (springs); unidirectional flow, nutrient spiraling (streams); naturally turbid, floodplains, large-bodied species (large rivers); depth-variation in benthic communities (lakes); endemism and diversity (ancient lakes); threatened, sensitive species (oxbow lakes, SWE); diverse, reduced littoral (reservoirs); cold-adapted species (Boreal and Arctic fwh); endemism, depauperate (Antarctic fwh); flood pulse, intermittent wetlands, biggest river basins (tropical fwh); variable hydrologic regime—periods of drying, flash floods (arid-climate fwh). Selected impacts: eutrophication and other pollution, hydrologic modifications, overexploitation, habitat destruction, invasive species, salinization. Climate change is a threat multiplier, and it is important to quantify resistance, resilience, and recovery to assess the strategic role of the different types of freshwater ecosystems and their value for biodiversity conservation. Effective conservation solutions are dependent on an understanding of connectivity between different freshwater ecosystems (including related terrestrial, coastal and marine systems).

ACS Style

Marco Cantonati; Sandra Poikane; Catherine M. Pringle; Lawrence E. Stevens; Eren Turak; Jani Heino; John S. Richardson; Rossano Bolpagni; Alex Borrini; Núria Cid; Martina Čtvrtlíková; Diana M. P. Galassi; Michal Hájek; Ian Hawes; Zlatko Levkov; Luigi Naselli-Flores; Abdullah A. Saber; Mattia Di Cicco; Barbara Fiasca; Paul B. Hamilton; Jan Kubečka; Stefano Segadelli; Petr Znachor. Characteristics, Main Impacts, and Stewardship of Natural and Artificial Freshwater Environments: Consequences for Biodiversity Conservation. Water 2020, 12, 260 .

AMA Style

Marco Cantonati, Sandra Poikane, Catherine M. Pringle, Lawrence E. Stevens, Eren Turak, Jani Heino, John S. Richardson, Rossano Bolpagni, Alex Borrini, Núria Cid, Martina Čtvrtlíková, Diana M. P. Galassi, Michal Hájek, Ian Hawes, Zlatko Levkov, Luigi Naselli-Flores, Abdullah A. Saber, Mattia Di Cicco, Barbara Fiasca, Paul B. Hamilton, Jan Kubečka, Stefano Segadelli, Petr Znachor. Characteristics, Main Impacts, and Stewardship of Natural and Artificial Freshwater Environments: Consequences for Biodiversity Conservation. Water. 2020; 12 (1):260.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marco Cantonati; Sandra Poikane; Catherine M. Pringle; Lawrence E. Stevens; Eren Turak; Jani Heino; John S. Richardson; Rossano Bolpagni; Alex Borrini; Núria Cid; Martina Čtvrtlíková; Diana M. P. Galassi; Michal Hájek; Ian Hawes; Zlatko Levkov; Luigi Naselli-Flores; Abdullah A. Saber; Mattia Di Cicco; Barbara Fiasca; Paul B. Hamilton; Jan Kubečka; Stefano Segadelli; Petr Znachor. 2020. "Characteristics, Main Impacts, and Stewardship of Natural and Artificial Freshwater Environments: Consequences for Biodiversity Conservation." Water 12, no. 1: 260.

Articles
Published: 18 December 2019 in Inland Waters
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In European countries, hydromorphological (HyMo) pressures are the second most commonly occurring types of pressures on aquatic ecosystems (after eutrophication). HyMo pressures (i.e., man-made alterations to the hydrology and morphometry of aquatic ecosystems) impact the functioning of lakes and rivers in multiple ways. Initially, they have profound effects on littoral communities, such as macrophytes, benthic invertebrates, and fish. Ultimately, they result in pervasive alteration of whole-lake ecosystems. Extensive efforts have been devoted to the development of ecological assessment methods and management measures focusing mainly on eutrophication, whereas HyMo alterations are less understood and not properly addressed. We attempted to clarify the conceptual background, to highlight achievements in method development, including pressure–response relationships and metrics used in assessment, and to underscore issues requiring urgent attention. We concluded that the currently used biological methods do not reliably address HyMo alterations. The need to develop specifically responding biological and HyMo assessment methods and to measure the necessary variables in routine monitoring programs is urgent. This review paper also serves as an introductory article to a small special series of papers on the ecological impacts of water level fluctuations. Papers in this series include an updated literature review on the ecological effects of water level fluctuations on lake macroinvertebrates, a review article specifically devoted to water level fluctuations indicators in the littoral of natural and artificial lakes, and a paper addressing the relationships between water level fluctuation alteration and spatial and temporal patterns of cladoceran communities in a dammed lake.

ACS Style

Sandra Poikane; Tamar Zohary; Marco Cantonati. Assessing the ecological effects of hydromorphological pressures on European lakes. Inland Waters 2019, 10, 241 -255.

AMA Style

Sandra Poikane, Tamar Zohary, Marco Cantonati. Assessing the ecological effects of hydromorphological pressures on European lakes. Inland Waters. 2019; 10 (2):241-255.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandra Poikane; Tamar Zohary; Marco Cantonati. 2019. "Assessing the ecological effects of hydromorphological pressures on European lakes." Inland Waters 10, no. 2: 241-255.

Journal article
Published: 22 August 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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European countries have defined >1000 national river types and >400 national lake types to implement the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). In addition, common river and lake types have been defined within regions of Europe for intercalibrating the national classification systems for ecological status of water bodies. However, only a low proportion of national types correspond to these common intercalibration types. This causes uncertainty concerning whether the classification of ecological status is consistent across countries. Therefore, through an extensive dialogue with and data provision from all EU countries, we have developed a generic typology for European rivers and lakes. This new broad typology reflects the natural variability in the most commonly used environmental type descriptors: altitude, size and geology, as well as mean depth for lakes. These broad types capture 60–70% of all national WFD types including almost 80% of all European river and lake water bodies in almost all EU countries and can also be linked to all the common intercalibration types. The typology provides a new framework for large-scale assessments across country borders, as demonstrated with an assessment of ecological status and pressures based on European data from the 2nd set of river basin management plans. The typology can also be used for a variety of other large-scale assessments, such as reviewing and linking the water body types to habitat types under the Habitats Directive and the European Nature Information System (EUNIS), as well as comparing type-specific limit values for nutrients and other supporting quality elements across countries. Thus, the broad typology can build the basis for all scientific outputs of managerial relevance related to water body types.

ACS Style

Anne Lyche Solheim; Lidija Globevnik; Kari Austnes; Peter Kristensen; Jannicke Moe; Jonas Persson; Geoff Phillips; Sandra Poikane; Wouter van de Bund; Sebastian Birk. A new broad typology for rivers and lakes in Europe: Development and application for large-scale environmental assessments. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 697, 134043 .

AMA Style

Anne Lyche Solheim, Lidija Globevnik, Kari Austnes, Peter Kristensen, Jannicke Moe, Jonas Persson, Geoff Phillips, Sandra Poikane, Wouter van de Bund, Sebastian Birk. A new broad typology for rivers and lakes in Europe: Development and application for large-scale environmental assessments. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 697 ():134043.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne Lyche Solheim; Lidija Globevnik; Kari Austnes; Peter Kristensen; Jannicke Moe; Jonas Persson; Geoff Phillips; Sandra Poikane; Wouter van de Bund; Sebastian Birk. 2019. "A new broad typology for rivers and lakes in Europe: Development and application for large-scale environmental assessments." Science of The Total Environment 697, no. : 134043.

Journal article
Published: 13 August 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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The aim of European water policy is to achieve good ecological status in all rivers, lakes, coastal and transitional waters by 2027. Currently, more than half of water bodies are in a degraded condition and nutrient enrichment is one of the main culprits. Therefore, there is a pressing need to establish reliable and comparable nutrient criteria that are consistent with good ecological status. This paper highlights the wide range of nutrient criteria currently in use by Member States of the European Union to support good ecological status and goes on to suggest that inappropriate criteria may be hindering the achievement of good status. Along with a comprehensive overview of nutrient criteria, we provide a critical analysis of the threshold concentrations and approaches by which these are set. We identify four essential issues: (1) Different nutrients (nitrogen and/or phosphorus) are used for different water categories in different countries. (2) The use of different nutrient fractions (total, dissolved inorganic) and statistical summary metrics (e.g., mean, percentiles, seasonal, annual) currently hampers comparability between countries, particularly for rivers, transitional and coastal waters. (3) Wide ranges in nutrient threshold values within shared water body types, in some cases showing more than a 10-fold difference in concentrations. (4) Different approaches used to set threshold nutrient concentrations to define the boundary between “good” and “moderate” ecological status. Expert judgement-based methods resulted in significantly higher (less stringent) good-moderate threshold values compared with data-driven approaches, highlighting the importance of consistent and rigorous approaches to criteria setting. We suggest that further development of nutrient criteria should be based on relationships between ecological status and nutrient concentrations, taking into account the need for comparability between different water categories, water body types within these categories, and countries.

ACS Style

Sandra Poikane; Martyn G. Kelly; Fuensanta Salas Herrero; Jo-Anne Pitt; Helen P. Jarvie; Ulrich Claussen; Wera Leujak; Anne Lyche Solheim; Heliana Teixeira; Geoff Phillips. Nutrient criteria for surface waters under the European Water Framework Directive: Current state-of-the-art, challenges and future outlook. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 695, 133888 .

AMA Style

Sandra Poikane, Martyn G. Kelly, Fuensanta Salas Herrero, Jo-Anne Pitt, Helen P. Jarvie, Ulrich Claussen, Wera Leujak, Anne Lyche Solheim, Heliana Teixeira, Geoff Phillips. Nutrient criteria for surface waters under the European Water Framework Directive: Current state-of-the-art, challenges and future outlook. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 695 ():133888.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandra Poikane; Martyn G. Kelly; Fuensanta Salas Herrero; Jo-Anne Pitt; Helen P. Jarvie; Ulrich Claussen; Wera Leujak; Anne Lyche Solheim; Heliana Teixeira; Geoff Phillips. 2019. "Nutrient criteria for surface waters under the European Water Framework Directive: Current state-of-the-art, challenges and future outlook." Science of The Total Environment 695, no. : 133888.

Journal article
Published: 24 May 2019 in Science of The Total Environment
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Various methods have been proposed to identify threshold concentrations of nutrients that would support good ecological status, but the performance of these methods and the influence of other stressors on the underlying models have not been fully evaluated. We used synthetic datasets to compare the performance of ordinary least squares, logistic and quantile regression, as well as, categorical methods based on the distribution of nutrient concentrations categorised by biological status. The synthetic datasets used differed in their levels of variation between explanatory and response variables, and were centered at different positions along the stressor (nutrient) gradient. In order to evaluate the performance of methods in “multiple stressor” situations, another set of datasets with two stressors was used. Ordinary least squares and logistic regression methods were the most reliable when predicting the threshold concentration when nutrients were the sole stressor; however, both had a tendency to underestimate the threshold when a second stressor was present. In contrast, threshold concentrations produced by categorical methods were strongly influenced by the level of the stressor (nutrient enrichment, in this case) relative to the threshold they were trying to predict (good/moderate in this instance). Although all the methods tested had limitations in the presence of a second stressor, upper quantiles seemed generally appropriate to establish non-precautionary thresholds. For example, upper quantiles may be appropriate when establishing targets for restoration, but not when seeking to minimise deterioration. Selection of an appropriate threshold concentration should also attend to the regulatory regime (i.e. policy requirements and environmental management context) within which it will be used, and the ease of communicating the principles to managers and stakeholders.

ACS Style

Geoff Phillips; Heliana Teixeira; Sandra Poikane; Fuensanta Salas Herrero; Martyn G. Kelly. Establishing nutrient thresholds in the face of uncertainty and multiple stressors: A comparison of approaches using simulated datasets. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 684, 425 -433.

AMA Style

Geoff Phillips, Heliana Teixeira, Sandra Poikane, Fuensanta Salas Herrero, Martyn G. Kelly. Establishing nutrient thresholds in the face of uncertainty and multiple stressors: A comparison of approaches using simulated datasets. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 684 ():425-433.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Geoff Phillips; Heliana Teixeira; Sandra Poikane; Fuensanta Salas Herrero; Martyn G. Kelly. 2019. "Establishing nutrient thresholds in the face of uncertainty and multiple stressors: A comparison of approaches using simulated datasets." Science of The Total Environment 684, no. : 425-433.

Review
Published: 26 February 2019 in Water
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A small standing-water ecosystem (SWE) is a shallow (

ACS Style

Rossano Bolpagni; Sandra Poikane; Alex Laini; Simonetta Bagella; Marco Bartoli; Marco Cantonati. Ecological and Conservation Value of Small Standing-Water Ecosystems: A Systematic Review of Current Knowledge and Future Challenges. Water 2019, 11, 402 .

AMA Style

Rossano Bolpagni, Sandra Poikane, Alex Laini, Simonetta Bagella, Marco Bartoli, Marco Cantonati. Ecological and Conservation Value of Small Standing-Water Ecosystems: A Systematic Review of Current Knowledge and Future Challenges. Water. 2019; 11 (3):402.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rossano Bolpagni; Sandra Poikane; Alex Laini; Simonetta Bagella; Marco Bartoli; Marco Cantonati. 2019. "Ecological and Conservation Value of Small Standing-Water Ecosystems: A Systematic Review of Current Knowledge and Future Challenges." Water 11, no. 3: 402.

Comparative study
Published: 28 September 2018 in Science of The Total Environment
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European water policy has identified eutrophication as a priority issue for water management. Substantial progress has been made in combating eutrophication but open issues remain, including setting reliable and meaningful nutrient criteria supporting ʽgoodʼ ecological status of the Water Framework Directive. The paper introduces a novel methodological approach - a set of four different methods - that can be applied to different ecosystems and stressors to derive empirically-based management targets. The methods include Ranged Major Axis (RMA) regression, multivariate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, logistic regression, and minimising the mismatch of classifications. We apply these approaches to establish nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) criteria for the major productive shallow lake types of Europe: high alkalinity shallow (LCB1; mean depth 3–15 m) and very shallow (LCB2; mean depth < 3 m) lakes. Univariate relationships between nutrients and macrophyte assessments explained 29–46% of the variation. Multivariate models with both total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) as predictors had higher R2 values (0.50 for LCB1 and 0.49 for LCB2) relative to the use of TN or TP singly. We estimated nutrient concentrations at the boundary where lake vegetation changes from ʽgoodʼ to ‘moderate’ ecological status. LCB1 lakes achieved ʽgoodʼ macrophyte status at concentrations below 48–53 μg/l TP and 1.1–1.2 mg/l TN, compared to LCB2 lakes below 58–78 μg/l TP and 1.0–1.4 mg/l TN. Where strong regression relationships exist, regression approaches offer a reliable basis for deriving nutrient criteria and their uncertainty, while categorical approaches offer advantages for risk assessment and communication, or where analysis is constrained by discontinuous measures of status or short stressor gradients. We link ecological status of macrophyte communities to nutrient criteria in a user-friendly and transparent way. Such analyses underpin the practical actions and policy needed to achieve ʽgoodʼ ecological status in the lakes of Europe.

ACS Style

Sandra Poikane; Geoff Phillips; Sebastian Birk; Gary Free; Martyn G. Kelly; Nigel J. Willby. Deriving nutrient criteria to support ʽgoodʼ ecological status in European lakes: An empirically based approach to linking ecology and management. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 650, 2074 -2084.

AMA Style

Sandra Poikane, Geoff Phillips, Sebastian Birk, Gary Free, Martyn G. Kelly, Nigel J. Willby. Deriving nutrient criteria to support ʽgoodʼ ecological status in European lakes: An empirically based approach to linking ecology and management. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 650 ():2074-2084.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandra Poikane; Geoff Phillips; Sebastian Birk; Gary Free; Martyn G. Kelly; Nigel J. Willby. 2018. "Deriving nutrient criteria to support ʽgoodʼ ecological status in European lakes: An empirically based approach to linking ecology and management." Science of The Total Environment 650, no. : 2074-2084.

Journal article
Published: 02 July 2018 in Ecological Indicators
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The European Water Framework Directive has been adopted by Member States to assess and manage the ecological integrity of surface waters. Specific challenges include harmonizing diverse assessment systems across Europe, linking ecological assessment to restoration measures and reaching a common view on ‘good’ ecological status. In this study, nine national macrophyte-based approaches for assessing ecological status were compared and harmonized, using a large dataset of 539 European lakes. A macrophyte common metric, representing the average standardized view of each lake by all countries, was used to compare national methods. This was also shown to reflect the total phosphorus (r2 = 0.32), total nitrogen (r2 = 0.22) as well as chlorophyll-a (r2 = 0.35–0.38) gradients, providing a link between ecological data, stressors and management decisions. Despite differing assessment approaches and initial differences in classification, a consensus was reached on how type-specific macrophyte assemblages change across the ecological status gradient and where ecological status boundaries should lie. A marked decline in submerged vegetation, especially Charophyta (characterizing ‘good’ status), and an increase in abundance of free-floating plants (characterizing ‘less than good’ status) were the most significant changes along the ecological status gradient. Macrophyte communities of ‘good’ status lakes were diverse with many charophytes and several Potamogeton species. A large number of taxa occurred across the entire gradient, but only a minority dominated at ‘less than good’ status, including filamentous algae, lemnids, nymphaeids, and several elodeids (e.g., Zannichellia palustris and Elodea nuttallii). Our findings establish a ‘guiding image’ of the macrophyte community at ‘good’ ecological status in hard-water lakes of the Central-Baltic region of Europe.

ACS Style

Sandra Poikane; Rob Portielje; Luc Denys; Didzis Elferts; Martyn Kelly; Agnieszka Kolada; Helle Mäemets; Geoff Phillips; Martin Søndergaard; Nigel Willby; Marcel S. Van Den Berg. Macrophyte assessment in European lakes: Diverse approaches but convergent views of ‘good’ ecological status. Ecological Indicators 2018, 94, 185 -197.

AMA Style

Sandra Poikane, Rob Portielje, Luc Denys, Didzis Elferts, Martyn Kelly, Agnieszka Kolada, Helle Mäemets, Geoff Phillips, Martin Søndergaard, Nigel Willby, Marcel S. Van Den Berg. Macrophyte assessment in European lakes: Diverse approaches but convergent views of ‘good’ ecological status. Ecological Indicators. 2018; 94 ():185-197.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandra Poikane; Rob Portielje; Luc Denys; Didzis Elferts; Martyn Kelly; Agnieszka Kolada; Helle Mäemets; Geoff Phillips; Martin Søndergaard; Nigel Willby; Marcel S. Van Den Berg. 2018. "Macrophyte assessment in European lakes: Diverse approaches but convergent views of ‘good’ ecological status." Ecological Indicators 94, no. : 185-197.