The Balkan Macrophyte Index (BMI) for Assessment of Eutrophication in Lakes
Authors
Schneider, SusanneTrajanovska, Sonja
Biberdžić, Vera
Marković, Aleksandra

Talevska, Marina
Imeri, Alma
Veljanoska-Sarafiloska, Elizabeta
Đurašković, Pavle
Jovanović, Katarina
Cara, Magdalena

Article (Published version)
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Aquatic plants have long been used as indicators for nutrient enrichment in lakes. In the Mediterranean, however, the process of developing and intercalibrating macrophyte assessment methods for lakes has lagged behind Northern and Central Europe, likely due to the relatively small number and high variability of natural lakes in the Mediterranean but also because of the different monitoring traditions in different parts of Europe. We here present a macrophyte index for assessment of lake eutrophication, tailored to Balkan lakes (Balkan Macrophyte Index, BMI). We analysed submerged aquatic vegetation, water chemistry and sediment total phosphorus content at several sites in lakes Prespa, Ohrid, Lura, Biogradsko, Crno and Sava, located in Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Despite the restricted number of lakes in our dataset, the BMI was loosely related to water phosphorus, rather than nitrogen, concentrations. Our results show that macrophyte indices may not be applicable... in lakes experiencing annual water level fluctuations of several meters, because the macrophyte vegetation in such lakes may be absent, or alternatively dominated by “oligotrophic” or “eutrophic” species. Once a larger number of lakes has been analysed using the same methods, reference conditions and status class boundaries may be derived from the phosphorus – BMI regression.
Keywords:
Macrophytes / eutrophication / Water Framework Directive / phosphorus / indicator valueSource:
Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 2020, 72, 3, 439-454Publisher:
- Sofia, Bulgaria : Prof. Marin Drinov Academic Publishing House
Funding / projects:
- Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
URI
https://www.acta-zoologica-bulgarica.eu/002370.pdfhttps://cer.ihtm.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/3973
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IHTMTY - JOUR AU - Schneider, Susanne AU - Trajanovska, Sonja AU - Biberdžić, Vera AU - Marković, Aleksandra AU - Talevska, Marina AU - Imeri, Alma AU - Veljanoska-Sarafiloska, Elizabeta AU - Đurašković, Pavle AU - Jovanović, Katarina AU - Cara, Magdalena PY - 2020 UR - https://www.acta-zoologica-bulgarica.eu/002370.pdf UR - https://cer.ihtm.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/3973 AB - Aquatic plants have long been used as indicators for nutrient enrichment in lakes. In the Mediterranean, however, the process of developing and intercalibrating macrophyte assessment methods for lakes has lagged behind Northern and Central Europe, likely due to the relatively small number and high variability of natural lakes in the Mediterranean but also because of the different monitoring traditions in different parts of Europe. We here present a macrophyte index for assessment of lake eutrophication, tailored to Balkan lakes (Balkan Macrophyte Index, BMI). We analysed submerged aquatic vegetation, water chemistry and sediment total phosphorus content at several sites in lakes Prespa, Ohrid, Lura, Biogradsko, Crno and Sava, located in Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Despite the restricted number of lakes in our dataset, the BMI was loosely related to water phosphorus, rather than nitrogen, concentrations. Our results show that macrophyte indices may not be applicable in lakes experiencing annual water level fluctuations of several meters, because the macrophyte vegetation in such lakes may be absent, or alternatively dominated by “oligotrophic” or “eutrophic” species. Once a larger number of lakes has been analysed using the same methods, reference conditions and status class boundaries may be derived from the phosphorus – BMI regression. PB - Sofia, Bulgaria : Prof. Marin Drinov Academic Publishing House T2 - Acta Zoologica Bulgarica T1 - The Balkan Macrophyte Index (BMI) for Assessment of Eutrophication in Lakes VL - 72 IS - 3 SP - 439 EP - 454 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_cer_3973 ER -
@article{ author = "Schneider, Susanne and Trajanovska, Sonja and Biberdžić, Vera and Marković, Aleksandra and Talevska, Marina and Imeri, Alma and Veljanoska-Sarafiloska, Elizabeta and Đurašković, Pavle and Jovanović, Katarina and Cara, Magdalena", year = "2020", abstract = "Aquatic plants have long been used as indicators for nutrient enrichment in lakes. In the Mediterranean, however, the process of developing and intercalibrating macrophyte assessment methods for lakes has lagged behind Northern and Central Europe, likely due to the relatively small number and high variability of natural lakes in the Mediterranean but also because of the different monitoring traditions in different parts of Europe. We here present a macrophyte index for assessment of lake eutrophication, tailored to Balkan lakes (Balkan Macrophyte Index, BMI). We analysed submerged aquatic vegetation, water chemistry and sediment total phosphorus content at several sites in lakes Prespa, Ohrid, Lura, Biogradsko, Crno and Sava, located in Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Despite the restricted number of lakes in our dataset, the BMI was loosely related to water phosphorus, rather than nitrogen, concentrations. Our results show that macrophyte indices may not be applicable in lakes experiencing annual water level fluctuations of several meters, because the macrophyte vegetation in such lakes may be absent, or alternatively dominated by “oligotrophic” or “eutrophic” species. Once a larger number of lakes has been analysed using the same methods, reference conditions and status class boundaries may be derived from the phosphorus – BMI regression.", publisher = "Sofia, Bulgaria : Prof. Marin Drinov Academic Publishing House", journal = "Acta Zoologica Bulgarica", title = "The Balkan Macrophyte Index (BMI) for Assessment of Eutrophication in Lakes", volume = "72", number = "3", pages = "439-454", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_cer_3973" }
Schneider, S., Trajanovska, S., Biberdžić, V., Marković, A., Talevska, M., Imeri, A., Veljanoska-Sarafiloska, E., Đurašković, P., Jovanović, K.,& Cara, M.. (2020). The Balkan Macrophyte Index (BMI) for Assessment of Eutrophication in Lakes. in Acta Zoologica Bulgarica Sofia, Bulgaria : Prof. Marin Drinov Academic Publishing House., 72(3), 439-454. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_cer_3973
Schneider S, Trajanovska S, Biberdžić V, Marković A, Talevska M, Imeri A, Veljanoska-Sarafiloska E, Đurašković P, Jovanović K, Cara M. The Balkan Macrophyte Index (BMI) for Assessment of Eutrophication in Lakes. in Acta Zoologica Bulgarica. 2020;72(3):439-454. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_cer_3973 .
Schneider, Susanne, Trajanovska, Sonja, Biberdžić, Vera, Marković, Aleksandra, Talevska, Marina, Imeri, Alma, Veljanoska-Sarafiloska, Elizabeta, Đurašković, Pavle, Jovanović, Katarina, Cara, Magdalena, "The Balkan Macrophyte Index (BMI) for Assessment of Eutrophication in Lakes" in Acta Zoologica Bulgarica, 72, no. 3 (2020):439-454, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_cer_3973 .