Benthic algae assessments in the EU and the US: Striving for consistency in the face of great ecological diversity

Charles, Donald F.; Kelly, Martyn; Stevenson, R. Jan; Poikāne, Sandra; Theroux, Susanna; Zgrundo, Aleksandra; Cantonati, Marco

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107082

Cited by 51 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 136 publications

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“…Physico-chemical measurements are carried out to determine water quality, water efficiency, environmental conditions, and sustainability of surface waters at the time of measurements (EC, 2009;Toudjani et al, 2017;Dalu et al, 2020;Charles et al, 2021).…”

Section: Bioassessment Of Surface Watersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…General physico-chemical parameters like nutrients (TP, TN, PO4, NO3, etc. ), heavy metals, xenobiotic, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, and pH should be measured during water quality assessment studies (EC, 2009;Charles et al, 2021).…”

Section: Bioassessment Of Surface Watersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unless chemical assessment is done regularly, it does not reflect the changes that may occur over time, as it will only give instantaneous values. For this reason, it may not provide complete information on the real conditions of aquatic ecosystems (Bere and Tundisi, 2011;Brack et al, 2019;Çelekli et al, 2019a;Charles et al, 2021). Deterioration of aquatic ecosystems is not only based on factors such as pesticides, xenobiotic, salinity, turbidity, and smell but also there are hundreds of other chemical variables (Merga et al, 2020).…”

Section: Bioassessment Of Surface Watersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nowadays, the bioassessment of the ecological conditions of inland water bodies is adopted worldwide (Directive, 2000;Charles et al, 2021). Because the results of bioassessment are complementary to physico-chemical and hydromorphological data for evaluating the ecological conditions of rivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bioassessment of water quality of surface waters using diatom metrics

Çelekli¹,

Lekesiz²,

Yavuzatmaca³

2021

Turk J Bot

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Bioassessment of surface waters is one of the most important approaches to predict the deterioration of ecosystems and achieve environmental sustainability according to the application of the European Water Framework Directive. The present review emphasizes the importance of the bioassessment of freshwater quality especially running waters based on diatom metrics. Nutrient enrichment and hydromorphological alternation driven by human activities are the main factors for the ecological compromise of freshwater ecosystems. Currently, the bioassessment of the ecological condition of inland water bodies is adopted worldwide. Bioassessment is complementary to physico-chemical and hydromorphological data for evaluating the ecological conditions of rivers; however, measuring all the physical and chemical changes is expensive and impractical. Therefore, monitoring biota helps to determine the changes occurring in ecosystems. Thus, diatoms are used as bioindicators to assess environmental conditions of the ecosystems, but their use requires great taxonomic knowledge, otherwise, the results will be biased. Many diatom indices have been developed based on the trophic weight and indicator values of diatoms in different ecoregions in the last decades. This review highlights the importance and advantages of using diatom metrics in the bioassessment of the ecological status of surface waters in the different ecoregions, especially running water. To analyze the complex response of diatom communities to environmental gradients and assess the quality of the ecosystem, multivariate statistical approaches are needed.The challenge here is how to define criteria for classes of water bodies in a biologically meaningful way. For this reason, Biological Condition Gradient is suggested as an appropriate and effective approach to develop trophic criteria based on the relationships between nutrient concentrations and biological indicators of ecological conditions.

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Section: Bioassessment Of Surface Watersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bioassessment Of Surface Watersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bioassessment Of Surface Watersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Bioassessment of water quality of surface waters using diatom metrics

Çelekli¹,

Lekesiz²,

Yavuzatmaca³

2021

Turk J Bot

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“…The standard method for sampling diatoms for ecological status and water quality assessment in Europe and beyond is to brush or scrape the upper surface of a hard substratum (Kelly et al 1998, CEN 2014Charles et al 2020). Most workers use a toothbrush for this purpose, often reusing the same toothbrush at several sites and using stream water to rinse the biofilm off the stones and into containers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential for cross-contamination of diatom DNA samples when using toothbrushes

Kelly¹,

Jones²,

Walsh³

2021

MBMG

Self Cite

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The use of toothbrushes and similar devices for sampling diatoms from hard surfaces is a well-established approach. Toothbrushes are routinely cleaned and reused when sampling for analysis by light microscopy. This paper looks at the scale of contamination encountered when this technique is used to sample diatoms for metabarcoding analyses, as well as at the scale of contamination to be expected if stream, rather than distilled water, is used to wash diatoms from stones. Although some contamination attributable to toothbrushes was detected, read numbers were low and had no effect on index calculation or ecological status estimates. However, if the primary focus of a study is to thoroughly document diversity in a sample, then even this small level of contamination may be unacceptable and more stringent measures may be required.

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Present and Future Perspectives for Bioassessment of Running Water Using Diatoms

Almeida,

Feio

2024

Diatom Photosynthesis

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Benthic algae assessments in the EU and the US: Striving for consistency in the face of great ecological diversity

Cited by 51 publications

References 136 publications

Bioassessment of water quality of surface waters using diatom metrics

Bioassessment of water quality of surface waters using diatom metrics

Potential for cross-contamination of diatom DNA samples when using toothbrushes

Present and Future Perspectives for Bioassessment of Running Water Using Diatoms

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