European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, via E. Fermi 2749, Ispra 21027, Italy.
Bowburn Consultancy, 11 Monteigne Drive, Bowburn, Durham DH6 5QB, UK.
Sci Total Environ. 2016 Oct 15;568:603-613. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.02.027. Epub 2016 Feb 28.
This opinion paper introduces a special series of articles dedicated to freshwater benthic algae and their use in assessment and monitoring. This special series was inspired by talks presented at the 9th International Congress on the Use of Algae for Monitoring Rivers and Comparable Habitats (Trento, Italy, 2015), the latest of a series of meetings started in 1991. In this paper, we will first provide a brief overview of phytobenthos methods in Europe. Then, we will turn towards the 'dark side' of phytobenthos and describe four particular problems for phytobenthos assessment in the European Union: (1) over-reliance on a single group of algae (mostly diatoms) to the exclusion of other groups; (2) relatively low adoption of benthic algae for ecological assessments in lakes; (3) absence of measures of phytobenthos abundance; (4) approaches used to define boundaries between ecological classes. Following this, we evaluate the strengths and limitations of current phytobenthos assessment methods against 12 criteria for method evaluation addressing four areas: ecological rationale, performance, feasibility of implementation, and use in communication and management. Using these criteria, we identify and discuss three general challenges for those developing new methods for phytobenthos-based assessment: a weak ecological rationale and insufficient consideration of the role of phytobenthos as a diagnostic tool and for communicating ecosystem health beyond a narrow group of specialists. The papers in the special series allow a comparison with the situation and approaches in the USA, present new methods for the assessment of ecological status and acidification, provide tools for an improved management of headwaters and petrifying springs, discuss the utility of phytobenthos for lake assessments, and test the utility of functional measures (such as biofilm phosphorus uptake capacity, PUC).
本观点文章介绍了一个专门针对淡水底栖藻类及其在评估和监测中的应用的系列文章。本系列专题受到了第九届国际河流和类似生境藻类监测使用大会（意大利特伦托，2015 年）上的报告的启发，这是自 1991 年以来一系列会议中的最新一次。在本文中，我们首先简要概述了欧洲的植物底栖生物方法。然后，我们将转向植物底栖生物的“阴暗面”，并描述了在欧洲联盟评估植物底栖生物方面的四个特殊问题：（1）过度依赖单一藻类群体（主要是硅藻）而排除其他群体；（2）在湖泊生态评估中相对较少采用底栖藻类；（3）缺乏对植物底栖生物丰度的测量；（4）定义生态类别的方法。在此之后，我们根据生态合理性、性能、实施可行性以及在沟通和管理中的应用这四个领域的 12 项方法评估标准，评估了当前植物底栖生物评估方法的优缺点。使用这些标准，我们确定并讨论了开发基于植物底栖生物评估的新方法的三个一般挑战：生态理论基础薄弱，对植物底栖生物作为诊断工具和超越狭窄专家群体传达生态系统健康的作用考虑不足。专题中的文章允许与美国的情况和方法进行比较，提出了评估生态状况和酸化的新方法，为改善源头和石化泉的管理提供了工具，讨论了植物底栖生物在湖泊评估中的应用，并测试了功能措施（如生物膜磷吸收能力，PUC）的实用性。
