The use of benthic algae, excluding diatoms and charales, for the assessment of the ecological status of running fresh waters: a case history from Germany

• Authors: A. Gutowski , J. Foerster , J. Schaumburg
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

A biomonitoring program was developed to assess the ecological status of streams based on the phytobenthic algal community structure. The study presented here focuses on siliceous sites of streams in the central highlands of Germany. Phytobenthic algae belonging to eight classes and 74 taxa were grouped into four categories according to their ecological distribution pattern. A formula was designed to calculate an index ranging from +100 to ?100 to assess stream health. Based on these values, the sampling sites were assigned to one of the five ecological quality classes required by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) of the European Union.

Keywords

EN

BENTHIC ALGAE   ECOLOGICAL STATUS   GERMANY   PHYTOBENTHOS   RUNNING WATER  

Discipline

• AQUATIC_SCIENCES: AQUATIC SCIENCES

• Publisher: Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdansk
• Journal: Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies
• Year: 2004
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 3-15
• Document Type: ARTICLE
• Publication order reference: A.Gutowski, Hohenkampsweg 25, D-28355 Bremen, Germany