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Harmonization is more important than experience—results of the first Nordic–Baltic diatom intercalibration exercise 2007 (stream monitoring)

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Abstract

The goal of this study was a harmonization of diatom identification and counting among diatomists from the Scandinavian and Baltic countries to improve the comparison of diatom studies in this geographical area. An analysis of the results of 25 diatomists following the European standard EN 14407 during an intercalibration exercise showed that a high similarity was achieved by harmonization and not because of a long experience with diatoms. Sources of error were wrong calibration scales, overlooking of small taxa, especially small Navicula s.l., misidentifications (Eunotia rhomboidea was mistaken for Eunotia incisa) and unclear separation between certain taxa in the identification literature. The latter was discussed during a workshop with focus on the Achnanthes minutissima group, the separation of Fragilaria capucina var. gracilis from F. capucina var. rumpens, and Nitzschia palea var. palea from N. palea var. debilis. The exercise showed also that the Swedish standard diatom method tested here worked fine with acceptable error for the indices IPS (Indice de Polluo-sensibilité Spécifique) and ACID (ACidity Index for Diatoms) when diatomists with a low similarity (Bray–Curtis <60%) with the auditor in at least one of the samples are excluded.

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Acknowledgements

The course was partly funded by Nordplus Neighbour, a program of the Nordic Council of Ministers. We thank the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency for funding of part of the auditor’s work. Microscopes were kindly provided by Olympus (Olympus Sverige AB) and Nikon (Tekno Optik AB Skärholmen). Some literature was kindly provided by Koeltz Scientific Books and E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. The Estonian river sampling and the participation of the Estonian diatomists was funded by Estonian target funding project SF 0170011508, and by grant 6580 from Estonian Science Foundation. We thank also Martyn Kelly for the constructive comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Maria Kahlert, Steffi Gottschalk, Eva Herlitz & Isabel Quintana

  2. Ecomonitor, Länsikatu 15, FI-80110, Joensuu, Finland

    Raino-Lars Albert & Juha Miettinen

  3. Department of Geography, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

    Eeva-Leena Anttila

  4. Mikroalg, Ölsåkra, Slottet, S-340 37, Torpsbruk, Sweden

    Roland Bengtsson

  5. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, KBC plan 5, S-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    Christian Bigler

  6. Institution of Geosciences, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

    Tiina Eskola

  7. Environmental Change Assessment Group, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, S-901 87, Umeå, Sweden

    Veronika Gälman

  8. JARLMAN HB, Stora Tvärgatan 33, 223 52, Lund, Sweden

    Amelie Jarlman

  9. Laboratory of Hydrobotany, Institute of Botany, Zaliuju Ezeru 49, LT-084 06, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Jurate Kasperoviciene

  10. Adam Mickiewicz University, Collegium Polonicum, Kościuszki Str. 1, PL 69-100, Słubice, Poland

    Mikołaj Kokociński

  11. Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, 181 Riia Str., EE-510 14, Tartu, Estonia

    Helen Luup, Kai Piirsoo & Sirje Vilbaste

  12. Hydrobiology and Ecotoxicology Division, Environmental Research Department, Environmental Protection Agency, A. Juozapaviciaus str. 9, LT-09311, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Ieva Paunksnyte

  13. Water and Environment Association of the River Kymi, Tapiontie 2 C, FI-451 60, Kouvola, Finland

    Janne Raunio

  14. BS Sötvattenkonsult, Roliasgatan 23B, S-553 39, Jönköping, Sweden

    Bernt Sandell

  15. Ecological Research Institute, Faculty of Biosciences, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, FI-801 01, Joensuu, Finland

    Heikki Simola

  16. Medins Biologi AB, Företagsvägen 2, S-435 33, Mölnlycke, Sweden

    Irene Sundberg

  17. Environmental Change Research Unit (ECRU), Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Jan Weckström

Authors
  1. Maria Kahlert
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  2. Raino-Lars Albert
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  3. Eeva-Leena Anttila
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  4. Roland Bengtsson
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  5. Christian Bigler
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  6. Tiina Eskola
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  7. Veronika Gälman
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  8. Steffi Gottschalk
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  9. Eva Herlitz
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  10. Amelie Jarlman
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  11. Jurate Kasperoviciene
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  13. Helen Luup
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  16. Kai Piirsoo
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  19. Bernt Sandell
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  20. Heikki Simola
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  23. Jan Weckström
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Kahlert.

Appendix

Appendix

Added* and changed** indicator values in OMNIDIA 4.2 according to the SE standard (valid September 2008. List is regularly updated)

 

 

IPS sensibility value

IPS indicator value

acidity value

code

S

I

 

Achnanthes abundans

AABU

5*

1*

3*

Achnanthes altaica

AALT

5*

2*

 

Achnanthes curtissima

ACUR

  

3*

Achnanthes didyma

ADID

5*

1*

3*

Achnanthes kriegeri

AKRG

 

 

3*

Achnanthes lanceolata ssp. dubia

ALDU

 

 

4*

Achnanthes lanceolata ssp. frequentissima var. rostratiformis

ALFF

 

 

4*

Achnanthes microscopica

AMCP

 

 

3*

Achnanthes minutissima group I (<2,2 μm)

AMI1

5*

2*

3*

Achnanthes minutissima group II (2,2-2,8 μm)

AMI2

5

1

3

Achnanthes minutissima group III (>2,8 μm)

AMI3

4*

1*

3*

Achnanthes nodosa

ANOD

5*

2*

3*

Achnanthes saccula

ASCL

  

3*

Achnanthes scotica

ASCT

5*

1*

2*

Amphipleura kriegeriana

AKRI

5*

3*

 

Amphipleura pellucida

APEL

4**

1**

 

Aulacoseira muzzanensis

AMUZ

 

 

4*

Aulacoseira “pseudodistans”

AUPD

 

 

3*

Aulacoseira valida

AUVA

 

 

2*

Brachysira procera

BPRO

 

 

2*

Brachysira zellensis

BZEL

 

 

3*

Cyclotella rossii

CROS

 

 

3*

Cymbella excisiformis

CEXF

5*

1*

4*

Cymbella laevis

CLAE

 

 

3*

Cymbella lange-bertalotii

CLBE

 

 

4*

Cymbella perparva

CPPV

 

 

4*

Cymbella subhelvetica

CSBH

 

 

4*

Encyonema lange-bertalotii

ENLB

4**

1**

3*

Encyonema minutiforme

ENMF

5*

1*

 

Encyonema pergracile

EPRG

 

 

2*

Encyonema reichardtii

ENRE

 

 

3*

Encyonema simile

ENSI

5*

2*

3*

Encyonema ventricosum

ENVE

 

 

3*

Encyonopsis cesatii var. geitleri

ECGE

5*

2*

3*

Encyonopsis krammeri

ECKR

5*

2*

 

Encyonopsis minuta

ECPM

4**

2**

4*

Encyonopsis perborealis

ECPB

5*

3*

 

Eucocconeis alpestris

EUAL

5*

3*

 

Eunotia bilunaris

EBIL

 

 

2**

Eunotia boreotenuis

EBOR

 

 

2*

Eunotia chelonia

ECHE

 

 

2*

Eunotia circumborealis

ECIR

 

 

2*

Eunotia curtagrunowii

ECTG

 

 

2*

Eunotia eurycephaloides

EECP

 

 

2*

Eunotia exsecta

EEXS

 

 

2*

Eunotia formica

EFOR

 

1**

 

Eunotia genuflexa

EGEN

 

 

2*

Eunotia hexaglyphis

EHEX

 

 

2*

Eunotia iatriensis

EIAT

 

 

2*

Eunotia inflata

EINF

 

 

2*

Eunotia muscicola

EMUS

 

 

2*

Eunotia muscicola var. perminuta

EMPE

 

 

2*

Eunotia muscicola var. tridentula

EMTR

 

 

2*

Eunotia pectinalis var. ventralis

EPVE

 

 

2*

Eunotia pseudoparallelloides

EPDP

5*

1*

2*

Eunotia rhomboidea

ERHO

5**

1**

 

Eunotia seminulum

ESEM

5*

1*

2*

Eunotia steineckii

ESTK

 

 

2*

Eunotia sp.

EUNS

 

 

2*

Fragilaria nanoides

FNNO

 

 

3*

Fragilaria oldenburgioides

FODD

 

 

3*

Fragilaria opacolineata

FOPA

 

 

3*

Fragilaria pinnata var. intercedens

FPII

4*

1*

4*

Fragilaria pseudoconstruens

FPCO

 

 

3*

Frustulia erifuga

FERI

5**

2**

 

Frustulia krammeri

FKRA

5*

2*

2*

Frustulia quadrisinuata

FQDS

5*

2*

2*

Gomphonema angustatum

GANG

  

3*

Gomphonema coronatum

GCOR

5**

 

3*

Gomphonema cymbelliclinum

GCBC

  

4*

Gomphonema pseudobohemicum

GPBO

5*

1*

2*

Gomphonema pumilum group

GPUM

4.5**

 

4*

Hippodonta coxiae

HCOX

  

4*

Melosira distans var. tenella

MDTE

  

2*

Navicula arctotenelloides

NATT

5*

1*

 

Navicula germainii

NGER

  

4*

Navicula maceria

NMCE

5*

1*

2**

Navicula minima

NMIN

2.2**

 

 

Navicula schmassmanni

NSMM

  

3*

Navicula subalpina

NSBN

4.5*

1*

4*

Navicula subhamulata

NSBH

4**

1**

 

Navicula suchlandtii

NSUC

 

1**

3*

Navicula upsaliensis

NUSA

4*

 

4*

Naviculadicta sp. (Icon 2. 27:17-18, 28:6-9, 28:21-23)

NVDI**

5*

1*

 

Naviculadicta litos

NLTO**

5*

1*

 

Nitzschia agnita

NAGN

 

 

4*

Nitzschia alpina

NZAL

 

 

3*

Nitzschia bavarica

NBAV

 

 

3*

Nitzschia palea var. debilis

NPAD

3**

1**

 

Nitzschia parvula

NPAR

 

 

4*

Peronia fibula

PFIB

 

 

2*

Pinnularia ivaloensis

PIVA

5*

2*

2*

Pinnularia perirrorata

PPRI

5*

2*

2*

Pinnularia silvatica

PSIL

 

 

2*

Pinnularia sinistra

PSIN

 

 

2*

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Kahlert, M., Albert, RL., Anttila, EL. et al. Harmonization is more important than experience—results of the first Nordic–Baltic diatom intercalibration exercise 2007 (stream monitoring). J Appl Phycol 21, 471–482 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-008-9394-5

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