European fish-based assessment reveals high diversity of systems for determining ecological status of lakes.

0551524 - BC 2023 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Ritterbusch, D. - Blabolil, Petr - Breine, J. - Erös, T. - Mehner, T. - Olin, M. - Peirson, G. - Volta, P. - Poikane, S.
European fish-based assessment reveals high diversity of systems for determining ecological status of lakes.
Science of the Total Environment. Roč. 802, Jan (2022), č. článku 149620. ISSN 0048-9697. E-ISSN 1879-1026
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) EF16_025/0007417
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : charr salvelinus-alpinus * eel anguilla-anguilla * fresh-water fishes * long-term data * environmental dna * species richness * biotic integrity * productivity gradient * relative abundances * greater-than-50 ha * Ecological indicators * Eutrophication * Sampling methods * Pressure-response
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 9.8, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149620

Triggered by the adoption of the Water Framework Directive, a variety of fish-based systems were developed throughout Europe to assess the ecological status of lakes. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of all existing systems and summarizes sampling methods, fish community traits (metrics) and the relevant anthropogenic pressures assessed by them. Twenty-one European countries developed fish-based assessment systems. Three countries each developed two distinct systems to approach different ecoregions, either to use different data, or to assess different lake types leading to a total number of 24 systems. The most common approach for the setting of reference conditions, used in seventeen systems, was the utilisation of fish communities in comparably undisturbed natural lakes as reference. Eleven used expert judgment, nine historical data and eight modelled relationships. Fourteen systems combined at least two approaches. The most common fish sampling method was a standardized fishing procedure with multimesh-gillnets. Many countries applied combinations of fishing methods, e.g. non-standard gillnets, fyke nets and electrofishing. Altogether 177 metrics were used for index development and each system combined 2-13 metrics. The most common ones were total standardized catches of number and biomass, relative abundance of Perca fluviatilis,
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0340316