Data Descriptor : A European Multi Lake Survey dataset of environmental variables, phytoplankton pigments and cyanotoxins

Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification. Consistency in data collection and analysis methods is necessary to achieve fully comparable datasets and for statistical validity, avoiding issues linked to disparate data sources. The European Multi Lake Survey (EMLS) in summer 2015 was an initiative among scientists from 27 countries to collect and analyse lake physical, chemical and biological variables in a fully standardized manner. This database includes in-situ lake variables along with nutrient, pigment and cyanotoxin data of 369 lakes in Europe, which were centrally analysed in dedicated laboratories. Publishing the EMLS methods and dataset might inspire similar initiatives to study across large geographic areas that will contribute to better understanding lake responses in a changing environment.Peer reviewe

Temperature Effects Explain Continental Scale Distribution of Cyanobacterial Toxins

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains.Peer reviewe

Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer

To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L−1), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long-term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4°C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient-rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature

Undertakings review of the ecological condition improvement in the Zdworskie Lake

The paper presents restoration work conducted in Zdworskie Lake after ecological disaster. Reparation work were concentrated on restoration of water supply and chemical quality in the lake. Increasing of water supply were achieved by constructing: broad-crested weir on the outfl ow for rising up the water table, bentonite structure for fi lling the riverbed of the main infl ow, artifi cial alimentation by connecting Dobrzykowski canal with the lake. Improvement of the chemical quality of the water should be achieved by: removing macrophytes biomass, placing bales of barley straw around watering-places, constructing fl oating containers with macrophytes, phosphorus inactivation in the sediments, biomanipulation using the Zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha

Zmienność warunków morfologicznych koryta Wisły na odcinku Czerwińsk-Kępa Polska

Variability of morphological conditions of the Vistula river channel in the section Czerwińsk-Kępa Polska. The paper presents an assessment of morphological changes that occurred in the Vistula river channel in selected section of about 33 km long, located in the middle of the Vistula river course between Czerwińsk and Kępa Polska (km 576–609). Based on the analysis of archival material from 1972–2009, a characteristics of river channel changes, taking primarily into account the horizontal layout (shape in the plan), was obtained. An attempt was made to estimate the trends and rate of transformation of the following parameters in the river channel: width, length, and position of the riverbanks, abundance and size of islands and fluvial deposits, as well as their percentage in the total area of the main river channel and the floodplain area between levees.W pracy przedstawiono ocenę zmian morfologicznych, jakie wystąpiły w korycie rzeki Wisły na wybranym odcinku o długości około 33 km, położonym w środkowym biegu Wisły między Czerwińskiem a Kępą Polską (km 576 – 609). Na podstawie analizy materiałów archiwalnych z lat 1972 – 2009 uzyskano charakterystykę zmian koryta, biorąc pod uwagę przede wszystkim układ poziomy (ukształtowanie w planie). Podjęto próbę oszacowania tendencji i prędkości przekształceń w korycie następujących parametrów: szerokość koryta, długość i położenie linii brzegowej, liczebność i powierzchnia kęp i odsypisk, a także ich procentowy udział w całkowitej powierzchni koryta głównego i obszaru międzywala

Comparison of selective evaluation methods of river ecological status based on the middle Wkra river research

Rzeki wraz z przyległymi terenami dolinowymi stanowią jeden z najcenniejszych siedliskowo elementów krajobrazu. Działalność człowieka na przestrzeni wieków doprowadziła do różnego typu przekształceń wielu odcinków rzek. Zauważono konieczność przeprowadzenia działań naprawczych w postaci zabiegów renaturyzacyjnych. Zaistniała więc potrzeba oceny aktualnego stanu cieków. Ocena taka ma ułatwić wskazanie odcinków najbardziej przekształconych i najmniej odbiegających od stanu naturalnego, wartych zabiegów ochronnych. W ciągu lat powstało w wielu krajach wielu metod dostosowanych do lokalnych warunków. W Polsce były to metody Ilnickiego i Lewandowskiego [1995] oraz Oglęckiego i Pawłata [2000]. Ostatnio pojawiła się kolejna metoda (o nazwie RHS), będąca przystosowaniem brytyjskiego protokołu do warunków polskich, mająca ułatwić wdrożenie Ramowej Dyrektywy Wodnej. W pracy przedstawiono porównanie waloryzacji ekomorfologicznej dokonane trzema wybranymi metodami.Rivers with adjoining valleys are one of the most valuable habitat elements of the landscape. Over the ages human interference has led to various types of transformations in river ecosystems. The necessity of repair works called restoration was noticed. Thus, the need for evaluation of the current state of running water has arisen. Such evaluation should help find the most transformed sections as well as the sections closest to the natural state, which are worth protective interventions. Over the years many original methods were created in different countries. In Poland these were Lewandowski's and Ilnicki's methods and also Oglęcki's and Pawłat's methods. Recently a new method has appeared called RHS, which is an adaptation of British protocol to Polish conditions. This protocol is going to facilitate the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. With the help of these three methodologies the ecomorfological evaluation was conducted among selected reaches of middle Wkra River. The analysis of obtained results has been presented in this paper