title: The "one-out, all-out" principle entails the risk of imposing unnecessary restoration costs: a study case in two Mediterranean coastal lakes.
abstract: The Water Framework Directive uses the "one-out, all-out" principle in assessing water bodies (i.e., the worst status of the elements used in the assessment determines the final status of the water body). In this study, we assessed the ecological status of two coastal lakes in Italy. Indices for all biological quality elements used in transitional waters from the Italian legislation and other European countries were employed and compared. Based on our analyses, the two lakes require restoration, despite the lush harbor seagrass beds, articulated macrobenthic communities and rich fish fauna. The "one-out, all-out" principle tends to inflate Type I errors, i.e., concludes that a water body is below the "good" status even if the water body actually has a "good" status. This may cause additional restoration costs where they are not necessarily needed. The results from this study strongly support the need for alternative approaches to the "one-out, all-out" principle.
authors: ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Prato
authors: ISPRA (Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144 Rome, Italy.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: La Valle
authors: ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: De Luca
authors: ISPRA (Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144 Rome, Italy.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Lattanzi
authors: ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Migliore
authors: ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy.
authors: J G
authors: JG
authors: Morgana
authors: Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnologies, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari, 46, I-44121 Ferrara, Italy.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Munari
authors: ISPRA (Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Via Vitaliano Brancati 60, 00144 Rome, Italy.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Nicoletti
authors: ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Izzo
authors: Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnologies, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari, 46, I-44121 Ferrara, Italy. Electronic address: msm@unife.it.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Mistri
mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D044822:Biodiversity; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000379:methods; D007558:Italy; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry*; D012306:Risk; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Biological quality elements; Environmental status; Transitional waters; Tyrrhenian Sea; Water Framework Directive