The Macrophyte Index for Rivers (MIR) was developed in 2007, and it was one of the first biological methods developed in Poland under the requirements of the Water Framework Directive to assess the ...ecological status of running waters. It is based on the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of 153 indicator taxa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the MIR method to detect trophic degradation in rivers and to compare its efficiency with other macrophyte metrics. Our investigation was based on 100 sites, representing a very clear gradient from near oligotrophic to eutrophic conditions. The results showed that macrophytes can be distinguished in terms of their ecological requirements for nutrient concentration in water, and this can be used to develop an effective system of freshwater assessment. The MIR was shown to be the indicator most strongly correlated with various forms of nutrients, and it was demonstrated that calibration of the macrophyte method to local biogeographical conditions resulted in greater effectiveness of the assessment method.
In several countries around the world, agricultural land area exceeds 70% (Uruguay 82.6%, Kazakhstan 80.4%, Turkmenistan 72.0%, Great Britain 71.7%, Ukraine 71.6% and others). This poses a serious ...risk of dissipating nitrates into the aquatic environment in agricultural catchments. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of land use on water quality parameters in an agricultural catchment area. It was decided to select for analysis the catchment of the Orla River (river length of 88 km, catchment area of 1,546 km
). The catchment area is predominantly agricultural in character and its entire area has been declared as an agricultural nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). A total of 27 survey sites were selected on the main watercourse and its tributaries. Analyses were conducted in the years 2010-2012 to determine physical and chemical parameters of water (pH reaction, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total nitrogen, organic nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrates, total and reactive phosphorus) as well as six macrophyte metrics of ecological status assessment (MIR, IBMR, RMNI, MTR, TIM, RI). The average values of most physico-chemical parameters of water quality repeatedly exceeded limits of good ecological status, both in the Orla River and its tributaries. As many as 18 survey sites were classified as moderate ecological status, five sites as poor and only four as good ecological status. The results indicate the impact of land use in the catchment on water conductivity. Differences were observed in the concentrations of biotic components in the main watercourse and its tributaries, and in water quality in the southern part of the catchment in relation to the rest of the study area. This is probably connected with a greater share of forests and surface waters in that area.
Climate change, worsening freshwater quality, and anthropogenic factors have caused water caltrop to lose approximately 80% of its habitat in Poland since the early 1980s. The presence of this plant ...species has substantially changed since the end of the 19th century. Our aim in this study was to examine the habitat and conservation status of Trapa natans in the Szumirad reservoir and Nowokuźnicki pond reserve in Poland and to indicate sources of potential hazards for the analyzed population. To achieve this aim, we spatially analyzed the changes in the total reservoir area, dynamics of species population, physico-chemical parameters of water, and climatic data. For the Szumirad reservoir, we observed substantial changes in water caltrop quantity and condition. For the Nowokuźnicki pond reserve, we found a serious threat to the Trapa habitat posed by the developing Nupharo–Nymphaeetum albae association, which is a strong competitor of nymphaeids. The obtained results indicated that surface waters localized in protected areas might play an important role in maintaining the population of water caltrop. On the basis of our analyses of selected populations, we emphasize that present protection procedures should be supplemented with the active protection of the species.
The method based on original metric called Hydromorphological Index for Rivers (HIR) was developed in 2017 for the purpose of the monitoring of the hydromorphological status of flowing waters in ...Poland. It fulfils requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). It allows assessment of both lowland rivers as well as mid-altitude and highland streams. The proposed system can be used to assess the natural and heavily modified rivers as well as artificial channels. The basis of the proposed system is a field survey, which is supplemented by analysis of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data and remote sensing materials. Analysis of the GIS data and remote sensing materials already enable to estimate preliminary classification of hydromorphological status of non-surveyed water bodies. Basing on the field survey, the principal HIR value can be estimated for the considered river site and comparing with the reference conditions the hydromorphological quality status in the five-class system can be calculated. Properly selected, representative survey sites (one or more depending on the heterogeneity of the environment), enable classification and evaluation of entire surface water bodies in the framework of the national environmental monitoring. The GIS component of the HIR proved to be useful in verifying the determination of heavily modified water bodies and in assessing the needs of river restoration. I was also applied in development of the National river restoration program, for predicting the impact of proposed restoration measure on the state of hydromorphology.
•Higher increase in biomass of E. canadensis under the binary influence of Cu and Zn.•The younger leaves were more resistant to the Cu and Zn effect than the older leaves.•Binary Cu+Zn on E. ...canadensis resulted in less cell disintegration than Cu.
The anthropogenic impact of xenobiotics contributes to environmental risk for the aquatic environment and thus, must be controlled. Elodea canadensis, a cosmopolitan aquatic macrophyte with an important role in the ecology of many littoral zones, may provide an integrated record of pollution. Therefore, it was interesting to investigate the accumulation of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in this species and in water and bottom sediments collected from rivers with various levels of contamination. Of these rivers one control and one polluted was selected for the collection of E. canadensis for an experiment to compare the ability of this species to accumulate Cu and Zn. These elements were supplemented at concentrations (mgL−1) of 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.05, 0.08 and 0.14 as CuSO4·5H2O, and 0.4, 0.6, 0.9, 1.4, 2.03 and 3.04 as ZnSO4·7H2O and in a mixture containing (mgL−1) 0.01Cu+0.4Zn, 0.02Cu+0.6Zn, 0.03Cu+0.9Zn, 0.05Cu+1.4Zn, 0.08Cu+2.03Zn and 0.14Cu+3.04Zn. After the experiment, E. canadensis from the polluted river contained significantly higher Cu and Zn concentrations when applied separately and also significantly higher Cu and Zn concentrations when applied as a mixture compared to the control river. These higher concentrations in E. canadensis from the polluted river were found in all combinations in the experiment. Thus, E. canadensis habituated in polluted sites to the exposure, and long-term influence of elevated metal levels appeared to be better adapted, and it also exhibited a higher increase in biomass than plants from the control river in all the experimental Cu and Zn solutions. Younger leaves of E. canadensis were more resistant to the effects of Cu and Zn than older leaves. Both Cu and Zn negatively affected the cell structure of older leaves, although the influence of Cu on plasma membrane integrity and chloroplast distribution was stronger than that of Zn. The influence of the Cu+Zn mixture on E. canadensis resulted in less pronounced cell disintegration than the influence of Cu added separately.
The explanation of differences in the E. canadensis biomass increase and metal concentrations under the binary Cu and Zn impact needs further examination.
A new multimetric MMI_PL index, which is based on the macroinvertebrate composition and combines six single key metrics, has already been implemented in Poland according to the requirements of the EU ...Water Framework Directive. The objectives of our survey were to assess the biological water quality using the new multimetric MMI_PL index in both reference and human-impacted streams, to analyze whether the values of the new multimetric index properly reflect the ecological status of the water in upland and mountain streams as well as to determine which environmental factors influence the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates and the values of the metrics. The study was carried out from 2007 to 2010 in three Ecoregions that were established by the EU WFD. A total of 60 sampling sites: 36 reference sites that were situated in the headwaters of mountain streams at mid- and high-altitudes and 24, human-impacted sampling sites were selected. The benthic macroinvertebrate surveys were supported by both a hydromorphological and macrophyte assessment according to the River Habitat Survey (RHS) and to the Macrophyte Methods for Rivers. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that the values of the Habitat Quality Assessment (HQA) index, conductivity, pH and altitude were the parameters most associated (statistically significant) with the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate taxa and the values of the metrics in both the reference and human-impacted (impaired) sections of the streams in Ecoregions 9, 10 and 14. The new MMI_PL index was useful for biological water quality assessment and was also important for separating both the reference and impaired sections of streams. The MMI_PL index and some key metrics performed contrary to what was expected in relation to the reference high-altitude siliceous streams (the High Tatra Mts., Ecoregion 10). Low values of multimetric index and key metrics did not properly reflect their high ecological status and pristine character as reflected by the hydromorphological (RHS) and macrophyte surveys or the physical and chemical parameters of the water.
The objectives of our survey were: to analyze the
structure of macroinvetebrate communities in mountain
streams in national parks and Biosphere Reserves (Poland,
the Slovak Republic), to determine ...the environmental
factors that influence the structure of macroinvertebrate
communities and to assess the stream habitats including
the bank and channel features, any modifications, land
use and channel vegetation. Our results showed that
in addition to the conductivity, the altitude, stream
gradient and the values of the HQA index that reflected
more natural features in the channel and river corridor
were most important. The River Habitat Survey (RHS)
method reflects not only the morphology but also the
relationships between habitat features and the structure
of macroinvertebrate communities and it provides a
more holistic approach to assessing the health condition
of stream ecosystems. Headwater streams support
unique macroinvertebrate taxa that are found nowhere
else in a catchment and may also constitute refuges for
in-stream biota. Some of the least water pollution-tolerant
macroinvertebrate taxa were recorded.
The purpose of the present research was to analyze the available data on river restoration projects in Europe. As the framework of our study, we conducted a structured international survey. We asked ...selected entities and experts from among those responsible for river restoration in European countries about the details and costs of European Union river restoration projects. We examined 119 river restoration projects that were implemented in Europe between 1989 and 2016; during the collection of data, some of the projects were still ongoing. Based upon the collected data we observed that the number of river restoration projects has been increasing since 1989, which expresses society’s growing interest in improving the quality of aquatic environments. We revealed that 56% of these European river restoration projects have been implemented by dedicated entities and stakeholders, not as part of any structured, larger-scale river restoration policy. This indicates that most European countries do not have integrated plans for river restoration. Our analysis showed that 52% of the projects analyzed have been designed and implemented without the participation of local stakeholders. It also showed that the budgets for river restoration projects did not differ significantly across various time horizons from 1989 to 2016. In our study, the average cost of restoring 1 ha of an European river was 310,000 euros (EUR). Considering these projects’ permanent assets and including their amortization, we calculated the average unit price of a river restoration’s value in terms of ecosystem meta-service to be 7757 EUR·ha−1·year−1.
Highly modified riverbeds are not able to spontaneously reproduce natural processes. The restoration of natural river systems is an important challenge to modern river engineering. Various procedures ...and solutions, both technical and non-technical, are applied in this process. This involves looking for simple solutions that are close to nature and that interfere with river ecosystems to a minimal extent. One of these solutions is deflectors, which constitute a type of simplified spur. This study presents the results of the research on the transformations of hydromorphology and macrophytes on selected sections of the Flinta River, which represents the most common type of river in the Central European Lowlands (a small river with a sandy substrate). Two neighbouring sections of the watercourse were selected. The first one has not been subject to any regulatory measures for over 30 years and is undergoing spontaneous restoration, while the second one was significantly altered (straightened, cleared of hydrophytes, and desilted) ten years ago. Three deflectors were introduced in this section in the years 2017–2018. Research conducted on both sections enabled the determination of the possibility of initiating renaturalisation processes by way of implementing simple solutions in the form of low-cost wooden deflectors. It also provided the basis for the assessment of the impact the measures taken had on the hydromorphological status of the watercourse and on macrophytes. Based on the studies conducted, it was possible to determine the size, dynamic, and scope of the changes taking place in the river under various conditions of its transformation, including those resulting from anthropopressure.
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