Trophic conditions in rivers and streams – significance for biological quality elements of the European Water Framework Directive

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Michael Weyand ◽  
Theresia Döppner ◽  
Petra Podraza
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Trophic Status ◽  
Influencing Factor ◽  
Benthic Invertebrate ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
European Water Framework Directive ◽  
Trophic Conditions ◽  
Biological Quality ◽  
Biological Quality Elements ◽  
European Water

In the past, saprobic and trophic conditions were both used as indicators to assess and monitor the quality of surface water bodies. Now, with the introduction of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), the focus in the assessment of aquatic systems has shifted towards better integration of biocoenotic parameters, expressed as biological quality elements. With this change, saprobity is still used, at least as partially, in the evaluation of benthic invertebrate fauna. The term ‘trophic status’, however, no longer appears as a separate criterion. It is the aim of this paper to show that all quality components depend to a greater or lesser extent on the water bodies' trophic status, so that this term will maintain its significance as a key influencing factor.

scholarly journals Water pollution by agriculture

2007 ◽  
Vol 363 (1491) ◽  
pp. 659-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Moss
Keyword(s):  
Water Pollution ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
European Water Framework Directive ◽  
Ecological Quality ◽  
River Channels ◽  
Freshwater Systems ◽  
European Water ◽  
Individual Effects

Agriculture disrupts all freshwater systems hugely from their pristine states. The former reductionist concept of pollution was of examining individual effects of particular substances on individual taxa or sub-communities in freshwater systems, an essentially ecotoxicological concept. It is now less useful than a more holistic approach that treats the impacts on the system as a whole and includes physical impacts such as drainage and physical modification of river channels and modification of the catchment as well as nutrient, particulate and biocide pollution. The European Water Framework Directive implicitly recognizes this in requiring restoration of water bodies to ‘good ecological quality’, which is defined as only slightly different from pristine state. The implications for the management of agriculture are far more profound than is currently widely realized.

scholarly journals The Use of Zooplankton Metrics to Determine the Trophic Status and Ecological Potential: An Approach in a Large Mediterranean Watershed

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 2382
Author(s):  
Manuel E. Muñoz-Colmenares ◽  
María D. Sendra ◽  
Xavier Sòria-Perpinyà ◽  
Juan Miguel Soria ◽  
Eduardo Vicente
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Trophic Status ◽  
Total Zooplankton ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Biological Quality ◽  
European Water ◽  
Quality Element ◽  
Ecological Potential

In the European Water Framework Directive, zooplankton was not included as a Biological Quality Element despite its important place in the aquatic trophic web. In the present study on zooplankton abundances and biomasses, we used several metrics to test their ability to detect differences among trophic statuses and ecological potential levels, and collected a large sum of data in more than 60 reservoirs at Ebro watershed, on more than 300 sampling occasions over 10 years. Our results indicate that most zooplankton metrics are correlated to environmental variables that determine reservoirs’ trophic states, especially chlorophyll a and total phosphorus. The metrics with better sensitivity to differentiate trophic states and ecological potential levels were ZOO (total zooplankton), LZOO (large zooplankton), CLAD (cladocerans), and ZOO:CHLA (zooplankton:chlorophyll a ratio). Microcrustacean metrics such as DAPHN (Daphnia), COP (copepods), CYCLO (cyclopoids), and CALA (calanoids) were good at differentiating between high and low water quality in trophic status (oligotrophic–eutrophic) and ecological potential (good or superior–moderate). Thus, zooplankton can be used as a valuable tool to determine water quality; we believe that zooplankton should be considered a Biological Quality Element within Water Framework Directive monitoring programs for inland waters.

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