Anthropogenic Stressors in Upland Rivers: Aquatic Macrophyte Responses. A Case Study from Bulgaria.

Upland rivers across Europe still exhibit undisturbed conditions and represent a treasure that we cannot afford to lose. We hypothesize that the combination of pristine and modified conditions could demonstrate biological responses along the stressor gradients. Thus, the response of aquatic macrophyte communities to anthropogenic stressors along upland rivers in Bulgaria was studied. Six stressors were selected out of 36 parameters grouped into hydromorphological, chemical variables and combined drivers (catchment land use). The stressors strongly affected species richness on the basis of biological type (bryophytes vs. vascular plants) and ecomorphological type (hydrophytes vs. helophytes). Hydrological alteration expressed by the change of the river's base flow and altered riparian habitats has led to a suppression of bryophytes and a dominance of riverbank plant communities. Seventy-five percent of mountain sites were lacking bryophytes, and the vegetation at semi-mountainous sites was dominated by vascular plants. It can be concluded that hydropeaking, organic and inorganic pollution, and discontinuous urban structures caused important modifications in the aquatic macrophyte assemblages. Macrophyte abundance and the biological and ecomorphological type of aquatic macrophytes reflect multi-stressor effects in upland rivers.

First Limnological Characterization of Crater Lake Billy Mitchell (Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea)1.

In this study we present a first limnological characterization of Lake Billy Mitchell [1,013 m above sea level (a.s.l.), 88.3 m depth, 3 km2 surface area] in central Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Physicochemical depth profiles indicated mixis of the entire water body with oxygen saturation reaching 55% in the deepest layers. A shallow thermocline was eroded at night, indicating atelomixis. HCO 3 - , Cl - , SO 4 2 - and Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ were the dominant anions and cations, respectively, leading to a conductivity of around 1,230 µS cm-1. The pH was close to neutral throughout the water column, and no accumulation of CO2 was observed at greater depths. With a total phosphorus concentration of around 25 µg liter-1 the lake can be considered as meso-to eutrophic. The phytoplankton community consisted of 18 taxa. The dinophyte Peridiniopsis cf. penardii and the filamentous green alga Planctonema lauterbornii dominated in the uppermost layer and reached a total biovolume around 16 mm3 liter-1. Six macrophyte taxa were found (three Spermatophyta/three Bryophyta), with the water chestnut Eleocharis dulcis covering the shoreline and Ceratophyllum demersum spreading to at least 3 m depth. Seven ciliate species were detected (<5 individuals ml-1) with bacterivorous scuticociliates and the prostomatid Coleps hirtus hirtus dominating the assemblage. The micrometazoan plankton community comprised the rotifer Anuraeopsis fissa, the copepod Mesocyclops cf. affinis, and a cladoceran species with-in the Ceriodaphnia cornuta group all concentrating in the upper water column. The only fish species found in the lake was the eel Anguilla megastoma, whereas in the effluent river this species occurred together with Anguilla marmorata.