title: Benthic macroinvertebrates in lake ecological assessment: A review of methods, intercalibration and practical recommendations.
abstract: Legislation in Europe has been adopted to determine and improve the ecological integrity of inland and coastal waters. Assessment is based on four biotic groups, including benthic macroinvertebrate communities. For lakes, benthic invertebrates have been recognized as one of the most difficult organism groups to use in ecological assessment, and hitherto their use in ecological assessment has been limited. In this study, we review and intercalibrate 13 benthic invertebrate-based tools across Europe. These assessment tools address different human impacts: acidification (3 methods), eutrophication (3 methods), morphological alterations (2 methods), and a combination of the last two (5 methods). For intercalibration, the methods were grouped into four intercalibration groups, according to the habitat sampled and putative pressure. Boundaries of the 'good ecological status' were compared and harmonized using direct or indirect comparison approaches. To enable indirect comparison of the methods, three common pressure indices and two common biological multimetric indices were developed for larger geographical areas. Additionally, we identified the best-performing methods based on their responsiveness to different human impacts. Based on these experiences, we provide practical recommendations for the development and harmonization of benthic invertebrate assessment methods in lakes and similar habitats.
authors.affiliation: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Water Resources Unit, 21027 Ispra, Italy. Electronic address: sandra.poikane@jrc.ec.europa.eu.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Poikane
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Richard K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Freshwater Research, Department of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Stångholmsvägen 2, SE-178 93 Drottningholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sandin
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ann Kristin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Schartau
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Solimini
authors.affiliation: Institute for Water of the Republic of Slovenia, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Gorazd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Urbanič
authors.affiliation: Nature Research Centre, Akademijos Str. 2, LT-08412 Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Kęstutis
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arbačiauskas
authors.affiliation: Freshwater Centre, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, 90014 Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aroviita
authors.affiliation: Flemish Environment Agency, Department Water Monitoring, Dr. De Moorstraat 24-26, B-9300 Aalst, Belgium.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gabriels
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, 12587 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Miler
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 301, 12587 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pusch
authors.affiliation: Centre for Limnology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 61117 Rannu, Tartumaa, Estonia.
authors.forename: Henn
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Timm
authors.affiliation: Bioforum GmbH, Sudetenstr. 34, 73230 Kirchheim/Teck, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Böhmer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005068:Eutrophication; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000502:physiology*; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry
keywords: Benthic invertebrates; Biological metrics; Ecological assessment; Lakes; Pressure–response relationships; Water Framework Directive