1. Submerged plant richness is a key element in determining the ecological quality of freshwater systems; it has often been reduced or completely lost. 2. The submerged and floating-leaved macrophyte communities of 60 shallow lakes in Poland and the U.K. have been surveyed and species richness related to environmental factors by general linearised models. 3. Nitrogen, and more specifically winter nitrate, concentrations were most important in explaining species richness with which they were inversely correlated. Phosphorus was subsidiary. Such an inverse relationship is consistent with findings in terrestrial communities. Polish lakes, with less intensively farmed catchments, had greater richness than the U.K. lakes. 4. The richest U.K. communities were associated with winter nitrate-N concentrations of up to about 1-2 mg L )1 and may correspond with 'good' ecological quality under the terms of the European Water Framework Directive. Current concentrations in European lowlands are often much higher.

Objectives.To develop a reliable and valid self-report scale which (1) will assess the distress and dif culties experienced in living with a problem of appearance; (2) can be used with clinical and non-clinical populations; and (3) facilitates clinical decisionmaking and research through good standardization, sensitivity and discrimination.Design. Cross-sectionalsurvey designs using clinical and non-clinicalpopulationsand a pre-post intervention design using plastic surgery patients. Method.A large initial item set was re ned through a controlled pre-post surgery study and a cross-sectionalstudy of a plastic surgery waiting list (606). The resulting 59-item scale was administered to 1740 patients with problems of appearance and to a representative general population sample (1001).Results. Principal component and factor analyses identi ed a stable ve-factor structure accounting for 63.5% of the variance, with a primary factor of self-consciousness of appearance. Internal consistency was high (a 5 .98) and test-retest reliabilities (three months) were good (.75 (general population); .86 (patients)). Correlations with existing tests showed appropriate criterion validity (.74-.62). Good construct validity was evidenced in pre-and post-operative changes, in differences between patients and controls and in convergent and divergent correlation patterns. The general population data reveal widespread concerns about appearance.Conclusions. The DAS-59 provides a widely acceptable, psychometrically robust, factorial self-report scale to assess distress and dysfunction in problems of appearance across the full range of 'visibility' and aetiologies. It is sensitive to therapeutic change and discriminates well between patient groups.Appearance is central to social experience and social interaction. The physically attractive receive preferential treatment during childhood and adulthood in all social situations 201

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