Classification of nutrient impact on lakes using the chironomid pupal exuvial technique

Assessment of ecological status in UK lakes using benthic diatoms

“…This set of lakes is useful for assessing the performance of the LTDI because the lakes are well studied LA and MA sites spanning a gradient of pressures for which a range of biological and chemical data are available. These data include EQRs based on TP, chlorophyll a, and O 2 concentrations (e.g., Phillips et al 2008), and status classes based on macrophyte communities (Willby et al 2009), the chironomid pupal exuvial technique (CPET) (Ruse 2010), and the chord distance from palaeoecological studies . The evaluation followed the one-outall-out principle as required by the WFD.…”

Even more Chironomid species for classifying lake nutrient status

“…CPET exploits the easy collection and identification of pupal exuviae (skins) discarded by emerging adults. CPET proved to be a simple and effective sampling method for implementing WFD ecological assessment of lake anthropogenic nutrient impact (Ruse 2010) and acidification (Ruse 2011). The collection of floating chironomid pupal exuviae at the leeward shore of standing water bodies provides a simple and safe means of obtaining abundant macroinvertebrate data representative of at least a large part of the lake.…”

“…Chironomid and environmental data from 178 lake surveys were used to calculate the sensitivity of chironomid species to anthropogenic nutrient enrichment (Ruse 2010). The observed sensitivity score of a lake was compared with the lake's reference score modelled from impact-independent characteristics of the lake.…”

“…Ruse (2010;2011) has provided methods of assessing anthropogenic perturbations to lake ecological status, in terms of nutrient enrichment and acidification, by analysing collections of floating pupal exuviae discarded by emerging adult Chironomidae. The previous nutrient assessment method was derived from chironomid and environmental data collected during 178 lake surveys of all WFD types found in Britain.…”

Potential ecological distribution of alien mollusk Corbicula largillierti and its relationship with human disturbance in a semi-arid reservoir

“…Some species are highly tolerant to physical and chemical variations, and colonize new habitats in reservoirs as they present high reproduction rates and adapt easily to different types of environment (Ruse 2010). In this semi-arid region, aquatic ecosystems present particular dynamics because of the following features: (1) distinct climatic and geomorphological characteristics; (2) highly variable precipitation both in time and in space; (3) low temperature variation (temperatures above 25°C); (4) high potential evapotranspiration, which promotes hydric deficit for about nine months per year; (5) shallow soil; (6) hydrographic basins with intermittent flow; and (7) deciduous vegetation coverage at the Caatinga biome (Barbosa et al 2012).…”