Avoin ympäristötieto – yhteistyön kehittäminen vesistöjen seurannassa. Järvien vedenlaatupalvelu -hankkeen loppuraportti

Julkisten tietovarantojen mahdollisimman tehokkaan käytön on katsottu tuottavan uutta tietoa ja palveluita sekä lisäävän hyvinvointia. Kerätyn ympäristötiedon heikko hyödyntäminen yritystoiminnassa on kuitenkin jo pitkään tiedossa ollut ongelma. Syitä tähän voi etsiä ympäristötiedon epäkaupallisesta luonteesta, sen keräämistavoista ja saatavuudesta tai esimerkiksi julkisen sektorin vahvasta roolista toimialalla. Järvien vedenlaatupalvelu -hankkeessa (Tekes, 2009-2012) haluttiin edistää julkisen tiedon hyödyntämistä yksityisellä sektorilla sekä kehittää yhteistyötä eri toimijoiden välillä. Lähtökohtana oli paikallisen tutkimusinfrastruktuurin kehittäminen niin, että eri lähteistä kerätty vedenlaadun mittaustieto olisi tietokannan kautta helposti yritysten käytettävissä. Lisäksi hankkeessa tutkittiin eri käyttäjien tarpeita vedenlaatutiedolle, kehitettiin menetelmiä tiedon tarkkuuden parantamiseksi sekä luotiin muun muassa lyhyen aikavälin ennustemalleja. Konkreettinen tulos oli myös uuden “jokamiehen” vedenlaadun mittalaitteen kehittäminen. Tämä esimerkiksi matkapuhelimen kameran käyttöön perustuva mittalaite tuo uusia mahdollisuuksia edullisen vedenlaatutiedon keräämiseen, kansalaishavainnointiin ja samalla myös erilaiseen liiketoimintaan. Julkiseen ympäristötietoon perustuvaa liiketoimintaa pohdittiin kahdessa työpajassa. Työpajoissa keskusteltiin siihen liittyvistä haasteista ja mahdollisuuksista sekä myös ideoitiin uusia julkiseen ympäristötietoon perustuvia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia. Tässä julkaisussa pohditaan julkisen ja yksityisen sektorin yhteistyön mahdollisuuksia Järvien vedenlaatupalvelu -hankkeen tulosten pohjalta

Epiphytic Diatoms along Environmental Gradients in Western European Shallow Lakes

Diatom-based assays have been successfully associated worldwide with the tropic status of lakes. Several studies have demonstrated a correlation between epiphytic diatoms and nutrient load in shallow lakes and wetlands. We examine the relative importance of environmental factors in explaining the structure of epiphytic diatom communities in a set of Western European shallow lakes. The effects of lake physical/chemical, morphometric, and geographical variables on diatom assemblages were tested using distance-based, canonical correspondence and regression analyses. Our results show that epiphytic diatom communities respond, mainly to physical/chemical variables, overriding the effects of lake depth, size, and location. The clustering of studied systems based along a total phosphorus concentration gradient concurs with previous classification of diatom taxa and nutrient state. Assessment of epiphytic diatoms provided a potential method for shallow lake classification

Subfossil Cladocera in relation to contemporary environmental variables in 54 Pan-European lakes

1. Changes in cladoceran subfossils in the surface sediments of 54 shallow lakes were studied along a European latitude gradient (36 68°N). Multivariate methods, such as regression trees and ordination, were applied to explore the relationships between cladoceran taxa distribution and contemporary environmental variables, with special focus on the impact of climate.2. Multivariate regression tree analysis showed distinct differences in cladoceran community structure and lake characteristics along the latitude gradient, identifying three groups: (i) northern lakes characterised by low annual mean temperature, conductivity, nutrient concentrations and fish abundance, (ii) southern, macrophyte rich, warm water lakes with high conductivity and high fish abundance and (iii) Mid-European lakes atintermediate latitudes with intermediate conductivities, trophic state and temperatures.3. Large-sized, pelagic species dominated a group of seven northern lakes with low conductivity, where acid-tolerant species were also occasionally abundant. Small-sized, benthic-associated species dominated a group of five warm water lakes with high conductivity. Cladoceran communities generally showed low species-specific preferences for habitat and environmental conditions in the Mid-European group of lakes. Taxon richness was low in the southern-most, high-conductivity lakes as well as in the two northern-most sub-arctic lakes.4. The proportion of cladoceran resting eggs relative to body shields was high in the northern lakes, and linearly (negatively) related to both temperature and Chl a, indicating that both cold climate (short growing season) and low food availability induce high ephippia production.5. Latitude and, implicitly, temperature were strongly correlated with conductivity and nutrient concentrations, highlighting the difficulties of disentangling a direct climate signal from indirect effects of climate, such as changes in fish community structure and humanrelated impacts, when a latitude gradient is used as a climate proxy. Future studies shouldfocus on the interrelationships between latitude and gradients in nutrient concentration and conductivity

Distribution patterns of epiphytic reed-associated macroinvertebrate communities across European shallow lakes

So far, research on plant-associated macroinvertebrates, even if conducted on a large number of water bodies, has mostly focused on a relatively small area, permitting limited conclusions to be drawn regarding potentially broader geographic effects, including climate. Some recent studies have shown that the composition of epiphytic communities may differ considerably among climatic zones. To assess this phenomenon, we studied macroinvertebrates associated with the common reed Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud in 46 shallow lakes using a common protocol. The lakes, located in nine countries, covered almost the entire European latitudinal range (from <48°N to 61°N) and captured much of the variability in lake size and nutrient content in the region. A Poisson Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) showed the number of macroinvertebrate epiphytic taxa to be negatively associated with water conductivity and positively associated with medium ice cover duration (approximately 1 month). A Gamma GLMM showed a positive effect of chlorophyll a on the density of macroinvertebrates, and a significantly greater density in lakes located at the lowest and highest latitudes. Individual taxa responded differently to lake environmental conditions across climate zones. Chironomidae dominated in all climate zones, but their contribution to total density decreased with increasing latitude, with progressively greater proportions of Naidinae, Asellidae, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera. Our study demonstrates that epiphytic macroinvertebrate fauna, even when analyzed at low taxonomic resolution, exhibits clear differences in diversity, relative abundance of individual taxa and total density, shaped both by geographic and anthropogenic variables. The results were discussed in the context of climate change. To our best knowledge this is the first study to examine epiphytic fauna carried out on a European scale

Distribution patterns of epiphytic reed-associated macroinvertebrate communities across European shallow lakes

So far, research on plant-associated macroinvertebrates, even if conducted on a large number of water bodies, has mostly focused on a relatively small geographical area, permitting limited conclusions to be drawn regarding potentially broader geographic effects, including climate. Some recent studies have shown that the composition of epiphytic communities may differ considerably among climatic zones. To assess this phenomenon, we studied macroinvertebrates associated with the common reed Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud in 46 European shallow lakes using a common protocol. The lakes, located in nine countries, covered almost the entire European latitudinal range (from < 48°N to 61°N) and captured much of the variability in lake size and nutrient content in the region. A Poisson Generalised Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) showed the number of macroinvertebrate epiphytic taxa to be negatively associated with water conductivity and positively associated with medium ice cover duration (approximately 1 month). A Gamma GLMM showed a positive effect of chlorophyll a on the density of macroinvertebrates, and a significantly greater density in lakes located at the lowest and highest latitudes. Individual taxa responded differently to lake environmental conditions across climate zones. Chironomidae dominated in all climate zones, but their contribution to total density decreased with increasing latitude, with progressively greater proportions of Naidinae, Asellidae, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera. Our study demonstrates that epiphytic macroinvertebrate fauna, even when analyzed at low taxonomic resolution, exhibits clear differences in diversity, relative abundance of individual taxa and total density, shaped both by geographic and anthropogenic variables. The results were discussed in the context of climate change. To our best knowledge this is the first study to examine epiphytic fauna carried out on a European scale