Defining chlorophyll-a reference conditions in European lakes.
The concept of "reference conditions" describes the benchmark against which current conditions are compared when assessing the status of water bodies. In this paper we focus on the establishment of reference conditions for European lakes according to a phytoplankton biomass indicator--the concentration of chlorophyll-a. A mostly spatial approach (selection of existing lakes with no or minor human impact) was used to set the reference conditions for chlorophyll-a values, supplemented by historical data, paleolimnological investigations and modelling. The work resulted in definition of reference conditions and the boundary between "high" and "good" status for 15 main lake types and five ecoregions of Europe: Alpine, Atlantic, Central/Baltic, Mediterranean, and Northern. Additionally, empirical models were developed for estimating site-specific reference chlorophyll-a concentrations from a set of potential predictor variables. The results were recently formulated into the EU legislation, marking the first attempt in international water policy to move from chemical quality standards to ecological quality targets.
Poikāne
Sandra
S
Institute for Environment and Sustainability, European Commission Joint Research Centre, 21027, Ispra (VA), Italy. sandra.poikane@jrc.ec.europa.eu
Alves
Maria Helena
MH
Argillier
Christine
C
van den Berg
Marcel
M
Buzzi
Fabio
F
Hoehn
Eberhard
E
de Hoyos
Caridad
C
Karottki
Ivan
I
Laplace-Treyture
Christophe
C
Solheim
Anne Lyche
AL
Ortiz-Casas
José
J
Ott
Ingmar
I
Phillips
Geoff
G
Pilke
Ansa
A
Pádua
João
J
Remec-Rekar
Spela
S
Riedmüller
Ursula
U
Schaumburg
Jochen
J
Serrano
Maria Luisa
ML
Soszka
Hanna
H
Tierney
Deirdre
D
Urbanic
Gorazd
G
Wolfram
Georg
G
D002734:Chlorophyll; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005060:Europe; D005068:Eutrophication; D005618:Fresh Water; D010839:Phytoplankton; D012016:Reference Values
D002734:Chlorophyll
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