Water Framework Directive and Related Monitoring Programmes

Mayes, Eleanor; Codling, I.

doi:10.3318/bioe.2009.109.3.321

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…All three metrics based on littoral macroinvertebrates (% Sensitivity to TP, TP score, and Indicator Taxa Metric) were correlated significantly with concentrations of TP in the water column in non-invaded systems, but not in invaded systems. Considering the widespread distribution and high rate of colonization of D. polymorpha in European freshwaters, these results highlight a need to consider further the effect that D. polymorpha, and other invasive aliens, might have on lake ecosystems and their classification under the WFD (Lucy et al, 2005;Irvine, 2009;Mayes & Codling, 2009). It is not unreasonable to attribute the loss of predictive power of the three tested classification metrics to the invasion of D. polymorpha rather than co-varying factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Impacts of invasion by Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) on the performance of macroinvertebrate assessment tools for eutrophication pressure in lakes

et al. 2010

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Aquatic ecosystems are experiencing increasing disturbance from multiple stressors caused by anthropogenic activities. The potential for multiple stressors to modify each others' impacts is not well understood. Legislation such as the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the development of tools to assess human impacts in aquatic systems that incorporate ecological elements, such as macroinvertebrates. Nutrient enrichment and invasive species are major threats to freshwater systems. The invasive zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha is a conspicuous invader in freshwater aquatic systems in Europe and North America, and has been linked to drastic changes in macroinvertebrate communities and lake ecology. In 31 lake sites varying in nutrient pressure and in the presence or absence of D. polymorpha we tested three ecological quality assessment tools based on macroinvertebrate assemblages (% Sensitive Taxa to Total Phosphorus (TP), TP Score and Indicator Taxa Metric) and two basic ecological metrics. There were highly significant changes in macroinvertebrate diversity, structure, and composition associated with the invasion by D. polymorpha. While the three metrics performed consistently well in non-invaded systems, they lost explanatory power for eutrophication pressure in invaded systems. Our results suggest that metrics may need to be developed separately for invaded and non-invaded systems, and that the interaction between alien species and nutrient enrichment requires further investigation.

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