Assessing ecological water quality of freshwaters: PhyCoI—a new phytoplankton community Index |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece;2. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany;1. CEER, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing 210029, China;2. RCEES, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China;3. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia;1. Bowburn Consultancy, 11 Monteigne Drive, Bowburn, Durham DH6 5QB, UK;2. SEPA, Parklands Avenue, Eurocentral, Holytown, North Lanarkshire, ML1 4WQ, UK;3. Environment Agency, Scarrington Road, Nottingham NG2 5FA, UK;1. Finnish Environment Institute, Freshwater Centre, PO Box 413, 90014 Oulu, Finland;2. Department of Ecology, PO Box 3000, 90014, University of Oulu, Finland;3. Finnish Environment Institute, Natural Environment Centre, PO Box 413, 90014 Oulu, Finland;4. Finnish Environment Institute, Laboratory Centre, PO Box 35, 40014, University of Jyväskylä, Finland;5. Lappeenranta University of Technology, PO Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland;6. Natural Resources Institute Finland, PO Box 413, 90014 Oulu, Finland;1. Environmental Management Division, CSIR — Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (Digwadih Campus), Dhanbad 828108, India;2. Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Engineering & Technology, Sitapur Road, Lucknow 226001, UP, India |
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| Abstract: | We propose and test a new Phytoplankton Community Index (PhyCoI) for monitoring the ecological status of lakes and reservoirs. The design of our PhyCoI is based on the fact that phytoplankton biomass and community structure respond to changes in water quality (mainly eutrophication) and by themselves also influence water quality. In order to accommodate this double role of phytoplankton as indicator and impact, PhyCoI is based on phytoplankton community properties at different hierarchical levels combining both specific metrics (total biomass, taxonomic group biomass, cyanobacteria contribution, taxonomic group species richness) and new or modified sub-indices. It is calculated from the scores of the different metrics/sub-indices resulting in a final index value in the range from 0 to 5, to assess water quality on the basis of five ecological classes according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The test of PhyCoI was based on Carlson's Trophic State Index (TSISD) based on water transparency (Secchi depth) in 26 Greek lakes and reservoirs covering the entire spectrum from oligotrophic to hypertrophic. A highly significant relationship at p < 0.001 between the two variables was found, with the values of the PhyCoI declining with increasing TSISD. Furthermore, a significant relationship between the PhyCoI and land use types at the watershed of the studied freshwaters was found identifying permanent crops, pastures and shrubs and herbaceous vegetation associations as significant predictors of PhyCoI values. Because of the amount of labor involved in obtaining the PhyCoI we suggest to combine low frequency PhyCoI determinations with a high frequency Secchi depth measurements for practical monitoring purposes. |
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