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Biota monitoring and the Water Framework Directive-can normalization overcome shortcomings in sampling strategies?

ABSTRACT: We compare the results of different monitoring programs regarding spatial and temporal trends of priority hazardous substances of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Fish monitoring data for hexachlorobenzene (HCB), mercury (Hg), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) sampled in German freshwaters between the mid-1990s and 2014 were evaluated according to the recommendations of the 2014 adopted WFD guidance document on biota monitoring, i.e., normalization to 5 % lipid content (HCB) or 26 % dry mass (Hg, PFOS) and adjustment to trophic level (TL) 4. Data of the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) (annual pooled samples of bream) were compared to monitoring data of the German federal states (FS), which refer to individual fish of different species. Significant decreasing trends (p < 0.01) were detected for Hg in bream (Abramis brama) sampled by both, the ESB and the FS between 1993 and 2013 but not for FS samples comprising different fish species. Data for HCB and PFOS were more heterogeneous due to a smaller database and gave no consistent results. Obviously, normalization could not compensate differences in sampling strategies. The results suggest that the data treatment procedure proposed in the guidance document has shortcomings and emphasize the importance of highly standardized sampling programs in trend monitoring or whenever results between sites have to be compared.

SUBMITTER: Fliedner A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5099357 | biostudies-other | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Biota monitoring and the Water Framework Directive-can normalization overcome shortcomings in sampling strategies?

Fliedner Annette A Rüdel Heinz H Teubner Diana D Buchmeier Georgia G Lowis Jaqueline J Heiss Christiane C Wellmitz Jörg J Koschorreck Jan J

Environmental science and pollution research international 20160818 21

We compare the results of different monitoring programs regarding spatial and temporal trends of priority hazardous substances of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Fish monitoring data for hexachlorobenzene (HCB), mercury (Hg), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) sampled in German freshwaters between the mid-1990s and 2014 were evaluated according to the recommendations of the 2014 adopted WFD guidance document on biota monitoring, i.e., normalization to 5 % lipid content (HCB) ...[more]

PMID: 27535154

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Project description:European Union Directive 2013/39/EU, which amended and updated the Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) and its daughter directive (2008/105/EC), sets Environmental Quality Standards for biota (EQSbiota ) for a number of bioaccumulative chemicals. These chemicals pose a threat to both aquatic wildlife and human health via the consumption of contaminated prey or the intake of contaminated food originating from the aquatic environment. EU member states will need to establish programs to monitor the concentration of 11 priority substances in biota and assess compliance against these new standards for the classification of surface water bodies. An EU-wide guidance effectively addresses the implementation of EQSbiota . Flexibility is allowed in the choice of target species used for monitoring to account for both diversity of habitats and aquatic community composition across Europe. According to that guidance, the consistency and comparability of monitoring data across member states should be enhanced by adjusting the data on biota contaminant concentrations to a standard trophic level by use of the appropriate trophic magnification factor (TMF), a metric of contaminant biomagnification through the food web. In this context, the selection of a TMF value for a given substance is a critical issue, because this field-derived measure of trophic magnification can show variability related to the characteristics of ecosystems, the biology and ecology of organisms, the experimental design, and the statistical methods used for TMF calculation. This paper provides general practical advice and guidance for the selection or determination of TMFs for reliable application within the context of the WFD (i.e., adjustment of monitoring data and EQS derivation). Based on a series of quality attributes for TMFs, a decision tree is presented to help end users select a reasonable and relevant TMF. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;15:266-277. © 2018 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Project description:Because of inadequate knowledge and funding, the use of biodiversity indicators is often suggested as a way to support management decisions. Consequently, many studies have analyzed the performance of certain groups as indicator taxa. However, in addition to knowing whether certain groups can adequately represent the biodiversity as a whole, we must also know whether they show similar responses to the main structuring processes affecting biodiversity. Here we present an application of the metacommunity framework for evaluating the effectiveness of biodiversity indicators. Although the metacommunity framework has contributed to a better understanding of biodiversity patterns, there is still limited discussion about its implications for conservation and biomonitoring. We evaluated the effectiveness of indicator taxa in representing spatial variation in macroinvertebrate community composition in Atlantic Forest streams, and the processes that drive this variation. We focused on analyzing whether some groups conform to environmental processes and other groups are more influenced by spatial processes, and on how this can help in deciding which indicator group or groups should be used. We showed that a relatively small subset of taxa from the metacommunity would represent 80% of the variation in community composition shown by the entire metacommunity. Moreover, this subset does not have to be composed of predetermined taxonomic groups, but rather can be defined based on random subsets. We also found that some random subsets composed of a small number of genera performed better in responding to major environmental gradients. There were also random subsets that seemed to be affected by spatial processes, which could indicate important historical processes. We were able to integrate in the same theoretical and practical framework, the selection of biodiversity surrogates, indicators of environmental conditions, and more importantly, an explicit integration of environmental and spatial processes into the selection approach.

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Biota monitoring and the Water Framework Directive-can normalization overcome shortcomings in sampling strategies?

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Biota monitoring and the Water Framework Directive-can normalization overcome shortcomings in sampling strategies?

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