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Benthic algae assessments in the EU and the US: Striving for consistency in the face of great ecological diversity
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Benthic algae assessments in the EU and the US: Striving for consistency in the face of great ecological diversity

Donald F. Charles, Martyn G. Kelly, R. Jan Stevenson, Sandra Poikane, Susanna Theroux, Aleksandra Zgrundo and Marco Cantonati
Ecological indicators, v 121, p107082
01 Feb 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107082
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107082View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Biodiversity & Conservation Environmental Sciences Environmental Sciences & Ecology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology
Freshwaters face multiple environmental problems including eutrophication, acidification, salinization, and climate-change, all of which can lead to impairment of ecosystem structure and function. Furthermore, these stressors often act in combination. Benthic algal-based assessments to quantify impairment are used in both the EU and US. In this review, we use case studies, experience, and the literature to compare concepts, approaches, and methods between the EU and US to offer an updated picture of benthic algal-based assessments. Both the US and EU are composed of numerous constituent states having considerable flexibility to adopt individual methods. The goal of this work is to synthesize the various approaches that are used across the EU and US. Specifically, we compare and contrast benthic algal assessment performed in response to core legislation - the Water Framework Directive in the EU and the Clean Water Act in the US, with a particular focus on the steps taken to ensure consistency at different stages of the process. This includes consideration of approaches to sampling design and field methods, taxonomic resolution and laboratory harmonization, metric selection and choice of algal groups, assessment of stressors and stressor/response relationships. A number of commonalities emerged during this process, particularly the focus on diatoms over other algal groups. However, there are also a number of key differences, including more widespread use of multimetric indices in the US compared with the EU. Finally, we consider emerging opportunities, including the potential for using metagenomic approaches for bioassessment in the future.

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60 citations in Web of Science
64 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#15 Life on Land
#14 Life Below Water

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Biodiversity Conservation
Environmental Sciences
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