Assessing reference sites and ecological quality of river plant assemblages from an Iberian basin using a multivariate approach

Ferreira, Maria Teresa; Albuquerque, António; Aguiar, Francisca C.; Sidorkewicz, N.

doi:10.1127/archiv-hydrobiol/155/2002/121

Cited by 31 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…The macrophyte-based methods focus mainly on identifying eutrophication (Haury, 1996;Holmes et al, 1999;Schneider et al, 2000;Haury et al, 2006) and acidification (Tremp & Kohler, 1995). However, macrophyte methods also exist to assess river degradation in a more holistic or integrative way (Ferreira et al, 2002;Passauer et al, 2002;Van De Weyer, 2003;Schaumburg et al, 2004). The importance of macrophytes in river biological assessment is formally recognised under the Water Framework Directive (European Commission, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrophyte development in unimpacted lowland rivers in Poland

et al. 2010

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Freshwater classification according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is based on estimation of the deviation between biological elements found on river stretch in comparison with communities detected in the same river type under reference conditions (undisturbed and near-natural habitats). We present analyses to describe macrophyte development in pristine lowland rivers and to reveal the variation among various stream types. The study is based on a country-wide survey of Poland with a dataset of 642 sites on 367 water courses. Surveyed rivers covered the whole lowland area of Poland. Field surveys were conducted using the Polish macrophyte approach, which enabled calculation of several macrophyte metrics. Firstly, a numerical index MIR (Macrophyte Index for Rivers) was computed, which reflects river degradation, especially eutrophication. Furthermore, five diversity metrics were calculated. Each survey, in addition to macrophyte assessment, was supplemented by a complex suite of environmental records. Reference conditions were defined using four criteria: (1) catchment land use, (2) hydromorphological features, (3) water quality and (4) biological assessment. The selected reference lowland rivers included 40 sites. To classify plant data, two-way indicator species analysis Twinspan was used. This resulted in distinguishing four endclusters which were heterogeneous according to plant composition: organic rivers and three types of siliceous rivers (small with sandy substrate, small with stony substrate and large rivers). The differentiation of environmental factors between river types was confirmed by a variance analysis (ANOVA). Furthermore, the environmental database was explored with principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA principal components were analysed against river types with the canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Finally botanical differences between identified river types have been detected, using botanical metrics the share of different macrophyte groups and relationships with particular species were defined.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macrophyte development in unimpacted lowland rivers in Poland

et al. 2010

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“…This cooccurrence of varied site conditions caused by different types of land use results in the high biodiversity observed in EZ and ER, as reported in numerous studies, including Zalewski et al (1998), Bornette et al (1998) and Pedroli et al (2002). However, a high density of macrophytes may competitively exclude other plant species, which results in reduced biodiversity (Weiher & Keddy 1995, Ferreira et al 2002, Zedler & Kercher 2004, Minchinton et al 2006. The high plant diversity observed within the EL zone (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

The impact of land use and water quality on the flora of ecotones along a small lowland river (Central Poland)

Kopeć

Dałkowski

Walisch

et al. 2014

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

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The presented study describes the plant species diversity within the terrestrial-water ecotone in relation to the land-use form in a river valley. The study was performed in a lowland river valley where the main forms of riparian zones are partially urbanized, forested and agricultural; the latter being most commonly observed in the investigated region. The present study examines the vascular flora of ecotones where more than 100 plant species were identified. Ecological indices were calculated at all sampling sites based on Zarzycki's ecological values and biodiversity indices. In addition, the aim of the study was to identify the relationships between the physico-chemical parameters of the water and the floristic indicators in the neighbouring ecotones.

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“…Overall, the stream hierarchy mainly determines river plant distribution: the five CA presented per basin show the particularity of each basin in term of community structure. For more details on the communities descriptions see previous publications (Ferreira & Moreira, 1995Aguiar et al, in press, 2001;Ferreira et al, 2001Ferreira et al, , 2002; Bernez et al, 2002a). Considering the sites where various covers of water knotgrass occurred, where the P. paspalodes is not present (PASP0 on the graphs), we usually have communities representative of the upper courses (river basins A: Algarve, O: Oeste, S: Sado) or driest stretches (G: Guadiana and T: Tagus).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Figure 4 shows that the biggest river basins, Guadiana and Tagus rivers, have the highest cover (scale5, >75% of the studied stretch of land), when the three other basins only reach a lower scale cover (4, between 50 and 75%). Figure 4 Sampling area (Ferreira & Moreira, 1995Aguiar et al, in press, 2001;Ferreira et al, 2001Ferreira et al, , 2002Bernez et al, 2002a). trend can be observed in very different situations of community species richness.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…It should be enlarged to include ecological traits, particular relationships with environmental conditions, species richness (Bornette et al, 1994) and spacetemporal community variation (Starfinger, 1998). It should also be related to the community characteristics and the river habitat features and the prevailing physico-chemical environment (Ferreira et al, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relations Between River Plant Richness in the Portuguese Floodplains and the Widespread Water Knotgrass (Paspalum Paspalodes)

Bernez

Ferreira²,

Albuquerque³

et al. 2005

Hydrobiologia

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The distribution and invasive status of the amphibious plant Paspalum paspalodes (water knotgrass) are observed. The P. paspalodes distribution clearly shows that it is an invasive plant established in Portugal, which has never before been recorded as invasive in Portugal. The purpose of our study is to determine the various stages of invasion of this plant on a large biogeographical scale, in five basins or groups of floodplain river basins belonging to five Portuguese regions covering the principal floodplains of the south and centre of the country. The composition of the river plant community in terms of structure and species richness was obtained from a data set of 401 sites. In some cases, water knotgrass could be a threat for particular river flora and consequently for the integrity of the river system. In other cases, it occurs in highly degraded places, where other taxa considered as invasive plants and/or indicators of degraded ecosystems are present. The pattern of invasion of P. paspalodes is discussed in relation to risk assessment for the other river plants and compared to the North European invasion processes of P. paspalodes. We conclude that the evolution of the distribution of this predominant Portuguese water plant has to be carefully followed in some of the studied floodplains, as well as its North European distribution limits. In-depth survey should be carried out to relate the current biogeographical changes to the hypothesis of indication in climate changes.

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Assessing reference sites and ecological quality of river plant assemblages from an Iberian basin using a multivariate approach

Cited by 31 publications

References 0 publications

Macrophyte development in unimpacted lowland rivers in Poland

Macrophyte development in unimpacted lowland rivers in Poland

The impact of land use and water quality on the flora of ecotones along a small lowland river (Central Poland)

Relations Between River Plant Richness in the Portuguese Floodplains and the Widespread Water Knotgrass (Paspalum Paspalodes)

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