title: Defining chlorophyll-a reference conditions in European lakes.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environment and Sustainability, European Commission Joint Research Centre, 21027, Ispra (VA), Italy. sandra.poikane@jrc.ec.europa.eu
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poikāne
authors.forename: Maria Helena
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Argillier
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buzzi
authors.forename: Eberhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoehn
authors.forename: Caridad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Hoyos
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karottki
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laplace-Treyture
authors.forename: Anne Lyche
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Solheim
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortiz-Casas
authors.forename: Ingmar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Ansa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pilke
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pádua
authors.forename: Spela
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Remec-Rekar
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Riedmüller
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schaumburg
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Soszka
authors.forename: Deirdre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tierney
authors.forename: Gorazd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Urbanic
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wolfram
mesh_terms: D002734:Chlorophyll; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005060:Europe; D005068:Eutrophication; D005618:Fresh Water; D010839:Phytoplankton; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D002734:Chlorophyll
references.citation: Ecol Appl. 2006 Aug;16(4):1267-76
references.pmid: 16937796
references.citation: Aquat Toxicol. 2007 Aug 30;84(2):215-22
references.pmid: 17640746