Design of a watercourse and riparian strip monitoring system for environmental management.

Watercourses are complex ecosystems where numerous economic, ecological and heritage issues converge. To ensure their efficient management it is essential to have a full description of these multifunctional ecosystems and to know their evolution over time. This paper describes a method for monitoring watercourses and their riparian strips developed in Wallonia (southern Belgium). It is based on an inventory constructed by stratified random sampling comprising 1,071 sampling plots distributed over a total length of 24,600 km of watercourses covered from their source. Each sampling plot is surveyed and measurements and fine observations are made on watercourse segments 50 m long. The method developed, which was applied on a regional scale, could easily be transposed to other entities, from large river basins, to an entire country. Examples of results obtained from a first inventory phase demonstrate the utility of this tool designed to supply qualitative and quantitative information to assist watercourse management.

Effect of temperature and bacteria on sporulation of Phytophthora alni in river water.

In order to evaluate the role of river water on the spread of the alder disease caused by Phytophthora alni, water samples were collected at different periods of the year 2004 in two rivers displaying contrasting biological quality indices. Sporangia were produced from isolates of P. alni belonging to the three subspecies, at the river temperature (between 8 and 15 degrees C according to the sampling period). The sporulation efficiency was evaluated according to a scale of 0-9, based on the amount of sporangia produced on mycelium plugs immersed in the water for two days. Sporulation was also evaluated in river water sterilised by filtration. The amount of sporangia increased with the water temperature for both rivers, regardless of the biological quality. No sporangium was produced at the lowest temperature (8 degrees C). Sterilisation of the water drastically reduced the sporangia-stimulating effect for most of the P. alni isolates.