Harmonisation of a new assessment method for estimating the ecological quality status of Greek running waters

Abstract During the last decades, a great number of indices have been developed throughout Europe to fulfil the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and to assess the ecological impacts of anthropogenic pressures. The development of a methodology for assessing the ecological quality status of Greek rivers and streams was urgently needed because the existing European indices were not adapted efficiently to the particular hydrological and climatic conditions of this Mediterranean region. After selecting the most appropriate typological system, four systems were tested using a different number of reference samples based on a vast number of criteria from impaired to at least impaired sites. The most suitable typological system was found to be the river types (IC) from the Mediterranean Intercalibration exercise. Reference or minimally disturbed sites to evaluate the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) for each river type were selected previously to the development and selection of the most appropriate metrics or biotic index based on benthic communities for the assessment of the ecological quality of the rivers. In this frame, 42 European metrics and indices, were tested against a) their response to three quality gradients (undisturbed, slightly disturbed and disturbed), b) their acquisition of a low interquartile coefficient and c) a low Spearman's correlation between the metrics and indices. Hence, 9 metrics and indices were examined for their response to human pressures and the Hellenic Evaluation System 2 (HESY2) was selected and successfully intercalibrated with the assessment methods of the other countries, using the option of indirect comparison based on near-natural reference sites (reference benchmarking). This index showed a significant correlation with some anthropogenic pressures (e.g. P-PO43−, artificial and agricultural areas) in all IC types. HESY2 estimates also more than 86% of the moderate samples correctly and beside this, it provides a precise, explicit and simply applicable assessment of the ecological quality status in Greek streams and rivers. HESY2 is applied for the assessment of the ecological quality in Greek running waters and will be further justified considering the results of the forthcoming National Monitoring Program (2017–2022).

[1]  N. P. Fornells,et al.  Estado ecológico de los ríos en Cataluña: diagnosis del riesgo de incumplimiento de los objetivos de la Directiva Marco del Agua , 2006 .

[2]  A. Lotter,et al.  A 274-lake calibration data-set and inference model for chironomid-based summer air temperature reconstruction in Europe , 2011 .

[3]  Andrea Buffagni,et al.  The European reference condition concept: A scientific and technical approach to identify minimally-impacted river ecosystems. , 2012, The Science of the total environment.

[4]  N. Prat,et al.  Regional and local environmental factors structuring undisturbed benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the Mondego River basin, Portugal , 2005 .

[5]  J. Marques,et al.  Benthic condition in low salinity areas of the Mira estuary (Portugal): Lessons learnt from freshwater and marine assessment tools , 2012 .

[6]  Young-Seuk Park,et al.  Modelling Community Structure in Freshwater Ecosystems , 2014 .

[7]  D. Dauer,et al.  Use of multimetric indices to classify estuaries with different hydromorphological characteristics and different levels of human pressure. , 2008, Marine pollution bulletin.

[8]  Andrea Buffagni,et al.  Non-perennial Mediterranean rivers in Europe: Status, pressures, and challenges for research and management. , 2017, The Science of the total environment.

[9]  A. Buffagni,et al.  The intercalibration of the Hellenic Evaluation System for Mediterranean rivers of type R-M1 and R-M2 at Northern and Central Greece , 2013 .

[10]  Frank Simons,et al.  Potential of bio-indication of chironomid communities for assessment of running water quality in Flanders (Belgium) , 2004 .

[11]  K. R. Clarke,et al.  Change in marine communities : an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation , 2001 .

[12]  P. Goethals,et al.  Implications of taxonomic modifications and alien species on biological water quality assessment as exemplified by the Belgian Biotic Index method , 2005 .

[13]  Lazaridou-Dimitriadou Maria,et al.  Macroinvertebrate Assemblages and Biological Status of Rivers in Northern and Central Greece , 2015 .

[14]  M. T. Furse,et al.  The performance of a new biological water quality score system based on macroinvertebrates over a wide range of unpolluted running-water sites , 1983 .

[15]  M. Lazaridou,et al.  Ecological quality of small mountainous Mediterranean streams (river type R-M4) and performance of the European intercalibration metrics , 2008, Hydrobiologia.

[16]  Andrea Buffagni,et al.  Bringing European river quality into line: an exercise to intercalibrate macro-invertebrate classification methods , 2011, Hydrobiologia.

[17]  N. Prat,et al.  Establishing physico-chemical reference conditions in Mediterranean streams according to the European Water Framework Directive. , 2012, Water research.

[18]  Andrea Buffagni,et al.  The STAR common metrics approach to the WFD intercalibration process: Full application for small, lowland rivers in three European countries , 2006 .

[19]  J. F. Butler,et al.  Black Flies, Simulium spp. (Insecta: Diptera: Simuliidae) , 1998 .

[20]  Andrea Buffagni,et al.  A simple procedure to harmonize class boundaries of assessment systems at the pan-European scale , 2007 .

[21]  N. Prat,et al.  Selection and validation of reference sites in small river basins , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[22]  J. Oscoz,et al.  Identification Guide of Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Spain , 2011 .

[23]  N. Willby,et al.  Harmonising the bioassessment of large rivers in the absence of near‐natural reference conditions – a case study of the Danube River , 2012 .

[24]  N. Prat,et al.  Macroinvertebrate community structure and biological traits related to flow permanence in a Mediterranean river network , 2007, Hydrobiologia.

[25]  I. Karaouzas,et al.  The Chironomidae (Diptera) fauna of Greece: ecological distributions and patterns, taxalist and new records , 2014 .

[26]  S Birk,et al.  Intercalibrating classifications of ecological status: Europe's quest for common management objectives for aquatic ecosystems. , 2013, The Science of the total environment.

[27]  B. Rossaro,et al.  Response of chironomid species (Diptera, Chironomidae) to water temperature: effects on species distribution in specific habitats , 2013 .

[28]  V. Resh,et al.  Mediterranean-climate streams and rivers: geographically separated but ecologically comparable freshwater systems , 2013, Hydrobiologia.

[29]  V. Dakos,et al.  Longitudinal impacts of anthropogenic pressures on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in a large transboundary Mediterranean river during the low flow period , 2006 .

[30]  N. Skoulikidis.  The State and Origin of River Water Composition in Greece , 2016 .

[31]  Anne Lyche Solheim,et al.  A hitchhiker's guide to European lake ecological assessment and intercalibration , 2015 .

[32]  Pall Karin,et al.  Water Framework Directive Intercalibration Technical Report: Alpine Lake Fish fauna ecological assessment methods , 2014 .

[33]  F. H. Dawson,et al.  Quality assessment using River Habitat Survey data , 1998 .

[34]  J. Wright,et al.  An introduction to RIVPACS. , 2000 .

[35]  Van De Bund Wouter,et al.  Water Framework Directive Intercalibration Technical Report. Part 1: Rivers , 2009 .

[36]  C. Lindegaard.  Classification of water-bodies and pollution , 1995 .

[37]  N. Prat,et al.  Comparability of ecological quality boundaries in the Mediterranean basin using freshwater benthic invertebrates. Statistical options and implications. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[38]  M. Lazaridou,et al.  Evaluation Score and Interpretation Index for the Ecological Quality of Running Waters in Central and Northern Hellas , 2005, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[39]  J Ferreira,et al.  Least Disturbed Condition for European Mediterranean rivers. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[40]  N. Skoulikidis,et al.  Analysis of factors driving stream water composition and synthesis of management tools--a case study on small/medium Greek catchments. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[41]  Elias Dimitriou,et al.  Assessing water stress in Mediterranean lotic systems: insights from an artificially intermittent river in Greece , 2011, Aquatic Sciences.

[42]  Anne Courrat,et al.  Three hundred ways to assess Europe's surface waters: An almost complete overview of biological methods to implement the Water Framework Directive , 2012 .

[43]  The Development of An Ecological Quality Assessment and Classification System for Greek Running Waters Based on Benthic Macroinvertebrates , 2004 .

[44]  I. Muxika,et al.  Response of single benthic metrics and multi-metric methods to anthropogenic pressure gradients, in five distinct European coastal and transitional ecosystems. , 2011, Marine pollution bulletin.

[45]  N. Prat,et al.  Long‐term effects of climatic–hydrological drivers on macroinvertebrate richness and composition in two Mediterranean streams , 2013 .

[46]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[47]  T. Bo,et al.  Biomonitoring with macroinvertebrate communities in Italy: what happened to our past and what is the future? , 2016 .

[48]  Poirazidis Konstantinos,et al.  Do intermittent and ephemeral Mediterranean rivers belong to the same river type? , 2009, Aquatic Ecology.

[49]  I. Karaouzas,et al.  Spatial scale effects on Chironomidae diversity and distribution in a Mediterranean River Basin , 2015, Hydrobiologia.

[50]  E. Papastergiadou,et al.  Comparability of river quality assessment using macrophytes: a multi-step procedure to overcome biogeographical differences. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.

[51]  L. Mancini,et al.  Black flies (Diptera, Simuliidae) as ecological indicators of stream ecosystem health in an urbanizing area (Rome, Italy). , 2016, Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanita.

[52]  Claude E. Shannon,et al.  A mathematical theory of communication , 1948, MOCO.

[53]  E. Cowling,et al.  Reactive Nitrogen and The World: 200 Years of Change , 2002, Ambio.

[54]  D. Hering,et al.  Intercalibration of assessment methods for macrophytes in lowland streams: direct comparison and analysis of common metrics , 2006 .

[55]  T. Albanis,et al.  Spatial and temporal effects of olive mill wastewaters to stream macroinvertebrates and aquatic ecosystems status. , 2011, Water research.

[56]  Eleni Kalogianni,et al.  Combined effects of water stress and pollution on macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages in a Mediterranean intermittent river. , 2017, The Science of the total environment.

[57]  V. Resh,et al.  Long-term seasonal variation in the biological traits of benthic-macroinvertebrates in two Mediterranean-climate streams in California, U.S.A. , 2006 .