The environmental state of important aquatic habitats in Albania based on algal assesment, a review

EnAlbania is rich in aquatic resources with high natural and biological values.Nevertheless,the waters still continue to be endangered,especially in western Adriatic Lowland areas.The structure of microscopic algae may give a better idea of water quality than traditional indicators.Systematic control of water quality will help to develop new strategies of wastewater management.It will allow Albania to reach international standards in environmental protection

Assessment of water quality of Lake Viroi after the reconstruction of the park

Albania is a reach country in water natural resource and one of them is "Mëma e Viroit" in the region of Gjirokastra. This is a karstic water source and it is approved as natural monument. The Lake Viroi is an important water ecosystem, with ecological, economic and environmental values. The anthropogenic and natural impacts are very significant indicators for eutrophication process of this lake. There is a good database for the environmental indicators and eutrophication of this ecosystem, which were assessed during the years 2011-2015. The park was under restoration during the year 2016 and it was a demand to assess water quality of lake after its restoration. The main objective of this study was to compare water quality of the lake before and after lake restoration and to propose the measures for water quality improvement. Water samples were collected during the year 2018, in accordance with the standard methods and were analyzed for chemical parameters by using ISO standard methods. The analyzed parameters were estimated according to the Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000/60 /EC) on the quality of surface waters. The values of trophic index (TSI) for Lake Viroi was calculated based on the total Phosphorus and total Nitrogen. The results showed that the amount of main nutrients as Nitrogen and Phosphorus continues to be at "High" and "Good" level. The trophic status of the lake varies from "oligotrophic" based on total Phosphorus values, to oligo-mesotrophic based on total Nitrogen values

Land cover data assessment in Albania

Land cover refers to the observed physical cover of the Earth's surface which describes the distribution of vegetation types, water bodies and human-made infrastructure. It also reflects the use of land resources for agriculture, forestry, human settlements and other purposes. In this context our current study was focused on the evaluation of land cover changes in Albania during the year period 2000-2018, using CORINE land cover program. Albania has a total area of 28,748 km2, from which 24% is agricultural land, 36% forest, 16% pastures and meadows and 24% is classified as other, which includes urban areas, lakes and waterways and unused rocky. Land cover in Albania during the year period 2000-2018, was excessively affected by natural phenomena and human activity. Land cover changes in Albania were mainly affected by urban residential sprawl over agricultural land. Thus, the urban residential land increased with about 1% (or about 28,000 Ha) and the agricultural land increased with 3.46% (or about 98,000 Ha), whereas forest area and mix agricultural area decreased with 2.1% (or about 60,000 Ha) and 5.35% (about 150,000 Ha), respectively

Land cover data assessment in Albania

Land cover refers to the observed physical cover of the Earth's surface which describes the distribution of vegetation types, water bodies and human-made infrastructure. It also reflects the use of land resources for agriculture, forestry, human settlements and other purposes. In this context our current study was focused on the evaluation of land cover changes in Albania during the year period 2000-2018, using CORINE land cover program. Albania has a total area of 28,748 km2, from which 24% is agricultural land, 36% forest, 16% pastures and meadows and 24% is classified as other, which includes urban areas, lakes and waterways and unused rocky. Land cover in Albania during the year period 2000-2018, was excessively affected by natural phenomena and human activity. Land cover changes in Albania were mainly affected by urban residential sprawl over agricultural land. Thus, the urban residential land increased with about 1% (or about 28,000 Ha) and the agricultural land increased with 3.46% (or about 98,000 Ha), whereas forest area and mix agricultural area decreased with 2.1% (or about 60,000 Ha) and 5.35% (about 150,000 Ha), respectively

Endemic plants in the flora of Shutman (Sharri Mountain), Kosovo – an analysis of phytogeographical elements and life forms

This paper aims to present the diversity of endemic plants in the Shutman area and an analysis of chorological groups and life forms. The flora of Shutman comprises 31 endemic plant species. Among them, there are 20 Balkan endemics, 1 stenoendemic and 5 sub-endemic species. They belong to 20 genera and 13 families. The richest among the endemics are families Asteraceae and Caryophyllaceae, both with 4 species. All endemics are herbaceous perennials. Hemicryptophytes dominate among life forms, accounting for 58.06%. Most of the species are Balkan floristic elements (20 species or 64.52%), followed by Southeast European and South European floristic elements, both with 3 taxa (9.68%). A total of 27 species have national or international conservation status. Reporting of Ranunculus degenii Kümmerle & Jav. for the first time in Shutman makes this area the second distribution record of this plant in Kosovo

How do newly-described diatom species affect biomonitoring? – An example of Gomphonema paratergestinum vs. G. tergestinum

Over the past decade a great number of new diatom taxa was described, as well as re-definitions and delimitations of taxa from different species complexes have been performed. The reasons for the constant increase in the number of described diatom taxa are numerous: unexplored habitats, improved light microscope resolution and digital cameras with accompanying softwares, scanning electron microscopy, molecular studies. For most of the newly-described species only morphological characteristics are known. What about their ecological preferences? OMNIDIA is a widely used software for evaluation of ecological status of water bodies based on diatoms. The database from the first version of the software up to today has grown from 2035 to more than 23.000 diatom taxa. However, for the most newly-described taxa there are no indicator values. In our study we evaluated the ecological status at six sites in lakes Ohrid and Prespa, respectively, based on different biological quality elements (diatoms, macrozoobenthos and macrophytes) as well as water chemistry. In two out of six sites in lake Ohrid, and five out of six sites in lake Prespa, Gomphonema paratergestinum was a dominant or subdominant species (33.5-69.66 % in Ohrid Lake and 9.95-65.34 % in Prespa Lake). In the OMNIDIA software, there currently are no indicator values for G. paratergestinum. However, the very similar species G. tergestinum has well known indictor values. G. paratergestinum resembles G. tergestinum with respect to some morphological characteristics (e.g. valve outline), but can be differentiated by the stria density. Both species were present in lakes Ohrid and Prespa, however, with dominance of G. paratergestinum. Based on the diatoms recorded at a site, OMNIDIA calculates diatom index values. How could G. paratergestinum with abundances up to 69.66 % influence diatom indices? If we “experiment” and substitute G. paratergestinum with G. tergestinum, the obtained diatom index values indicated a completely different ecological quality class. Every newly-described species is important since it increases our knowledge about diversity, biogeography and distribution of diatoms. However, there still is a gap between taxonomy and biomonitoring. How can we overcome this problem? According to the Botanical Nomenclature Code for algae, fungi, and plants no note or suggestion regarding ecology or ecological preferences of a species is required for description. Maybe, a possible solution could be that in the description of the species ecological data, such as pH, conductivity, total phosphorus, concentrations of different anions etc. should be included. Scientists today join forces to review material and species collected by Kützing, Ehrenberg, Grunow, Van Heurck, Cleve etc... In the same way ecological data of newly-described species could be assembled and their indicator values calculated

Relating environmental pressures to littoral biological water quality indicators in Western Balkan lakes: Can we fill the largest gaps?

Along six transects in each of six lakes across the Western Balkans, we collected data for three groups of littoral biological water quality indicators: epilithic diatoms, macrophytes, and benthic invertebrates. We assessed the relationships between them and three environmental pressures: nutrient load (eutrophication), hydro-morphological alteration of the shoreline, and water level variation, separating the effect of individual lakes and continuous explanatory variables. Lake water total phosphorus concentration (TP) showed substantial variation but was not related to any of the tested biological indicators, nor to any of the tested pressures. We suggest that this may be due to feedback processes such as P removal in the lake littoral zone. Instead, we found that a gradient in surrounding land-use towards increasing urbanization, and a land-use-based estimate of P run-off, served as a better descriptor of eutrophication. Overall, eutrophication and water level fluctuation were most important for explaining variation in the assessed indicators, whereas shoreline hydro-morphological alteration was less important. Diatom indicators were most responsive to all three pressures, whereas macrophyte biomass and species number responded only to water level fluctuation. The Trophic Diatom Index for Lakes (TDIL) was negatively related to urbanization and wave exposure. This indicates that it is a suitable indicator for pressures related to urbanization, although a confounding effect of wave exposure is possible. Invertebrate abundance responded strongly to eutrophication, but the indicator based on taxonomic composition (Average Score Per Taxon) did not. Our results suggest that our metrics can be applied in Western Balkan lakes, despite the high number of endemic species present in some of these lakes. We argue that local water management should focus on abating the causes of eutrophication and water level fluctuation, whilst preserving sufficient lengths of undeveloped shoreline to ensure good water quality in the long run

The environmental state of important aquatic habitats in Albania based on algal assesment, a review

EnAlbania is rich in aquatic resources with high natural and biological values.Nevertheless,the waters still continue to be endangered,especially in western Adriatic Lowland areas.The structure of microscopic algae may give a better idea of water quality than traditional indicators.Systematic control of water quality will help to develop new strategies of wastewater management.It will allow Albania to reach international standards in environmental protection

Hyperaccumulators of mercury in the industrial area of a PVC factory in Vlora (Albania)

Contamination by heavy metals is one of the major threats to soil and water as well as human health. Much attention is being paid to metal-accumulating plants that may be used for the phytoremediation of contaminated soils. Some plants can accumulate remarkable levels of metals, 100-1000-fold the levels normally accumulated in most species. This study evaluated the potential of mercury accumulation of 17 plant species growing on contaminated sites in the ex-industrial area of the PVC Factory, Vlora, Albania. Plant roots, shoots and soil samples were collected and analyzed for the selected metal concentration values. The biological accumulation coefficient (BAC) was calculated to evaluate the potential use of plant species for phytoremediation purposes. The concentration of Hg in soils inside the contaminated area varied from 45-301 mg/kg-1. The concentration of Hg in plant shoots and roots varied from 0.1 to 12.9 mg/kg-1 and 0.1 to 4.2 mg/kg-1, respectively. Species Medicago sativa L. and Dittrichia viscosa (L.) W. Greuter were found to be the most suitable plants for phytoremediation of the site contaminated with mercury (BAC values varied from 30-10 percent, respectively). Considering the BAC values, none of the plant species was found to be a hyperaccumulator; however, plants with high BCF (metal concentration ratio of plant root to soil) and low BTC (metal concentration ratio of plant shoots to roots) have the potential for phytostabilization and phytoextraction. The results of this study can be used for the management and decontamination of soils with mercury using plant species having phytoremediation potential/characteristics

Changes in the diatom community in the great lake (Lurë National Park, Albania) from 2005 to 2017 and first steps towards assessment the water quality

Great Lake is the largest of 14 lakes situated in Lurë National Park, in the eastern part of the Lurë Mountains, Albania. To characterize lake ecological status, epiphytic and epilithic diatom samples were collected from the lakeshore in summer 2005, 2013, and 2017. However, in 2017 no macrophytes were present, such that only epilithic diatom samples could be collected. After laboratory analysis, 52 diatom taxa were identified in July 2005, 67 in June 2013, 111 in August 2013, and 126 in August 2017. The genera Diatoma, Epithemia, Fragilaria, and Surirella were not recorded in 2017, contrary to previous years.We applied two diatom indices to asses the ecological status of the Great Lake, IPS (Indice de Polluo–sensibilité), and TDIL (Trophic Diatom Index for lakes). The IPS index indicated very good water quality in all years, while the TDIL indicated moderate water quality in 2005 and 2013 and good water quality in 2017. Because more species have indicator values for calculating the IPS than the TDIL (valve number used to calculate the IPS was above 95%, while for TDIL was below 50% of 400 counted valves), the IPS may be a more promising tool for bioindication of lakes in Albania according to the demands of the Water Framework Directive