IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envman/v45y2010i6d10.1007_s00267-010-9484-4.html

Defining Chlorophyll-a Reference Conditions in European Lakes

Author

Listed:
  • Sandra Poikāne

    (European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability)

  • Maria Helena Alves

    (Water National Institute)

  • Christine Argillier

    (Research Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, CEMAGREF)

  • Marcel van den Berg

    (Centre for Water Management)

  • Fabio Buzzi

    (Environmental Protection Agency of Lombardy)

  • Eberhard Hoehn

    (LBH)

  • Caridad de Hoyos

    (Centre for Hydrographic Studies, CEDEX)

  • Ivan Karottki

    (Ministry of Environment)

  • Christophe Laplace-Treyture

    (Research Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, CEMAGREF)

  • Anne Lyche Solheim

    (Norwegian Institute for Water Research)

  • José Ortiz-Casas

    (Ministry of Environment)

  • Ingmar Ott

    (Estonian University of Life Sciences)

  • Geoff Phillips

    (Environment Agency)

  • Ansa Pilke

    (Finnish Environment Institute)

  • João Pádua

    (Water National Institute)

  • Spela Remec-Rekar

    (Environmental Agency)

  • Ursula Riedmüller

    (BNÖ)

  • Jochen Schaumburg

    (Bavarian Environment Agency)

  • Maria Luisa Serrano

    (Ministry of Environment)

  • Hanna Soszka

    (Institute of Environmental Protection)

  • Deirdre Tierney

    (Environmental Protection Agency)

  • Gorazd Urbanič

    (Institute for Water)

  • Georg Wolfram

    (DWS Hydro-Ökologie GmbH)

Abstract

The concept of “reference conditions” describes the benchmark against which current conditions are compared when assessing the status of water bodies. In this paper we focus on the establishment of reference conditions for European lakes according to a phytoplankton biomass indicator—the concentration of chlorophyll-a. A mostly spatial approach (selection of existing lakes with no or minor human impact) was used to set the reference conditions for chlorophyll-a values, supplemented by historical data, paleolimnological investigations and modelling. The work resulted in definition of reference conditions and the boundary between “high” and “good” status for 15 main lake types and five ecoregions of Europe: Alpine, Atlantic, Central/Baltic, Mediterranean, and Northern. Additionally, empirical models were developed for estimating site-specific reference chlorophyll-a concentrations from a set of potential predictor variables. The results were recently formulated into the EU legislation, marking the first attempt in international water policy to move from chemical quality standards to ecological quality targets.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandra Poikāne & Maria Helena Alves & Christine Argillier & Marcel van den Berg & Fabio Buzzi & Eberhard Hoehn & Caridad de Hoyos & Ivan Karottki & Christophe Laplace-Treyture & Anne Lyche Solheim & J, 2010. "Defining Chlorophyll-a Reference Conditions in European Lakes," Environmental Management, Springer, vol. 45(6), pages 1286-1298, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envman:v:45:y:2010:i:6:d:10.1007_s00267-010-9484-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s00267-010-9484-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00267-010-9484-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00267-010-9484-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envman:v:45:y:2010:i:6:d:10.1007_s00267-010-9484-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.