| Water category: | River |
| Pressure categories | Hazardous substances |
| Pressure detail | Metal (Aluminium) |
| WFD Indicators- R | Phytoplancton Macrophytes and phytobenthos Composition Abundance Benthic invertebrate fauna Composition and abundance Disturbance Diversity Fish Composition and abundance Disturbance Community structure |
| Specific Index | |
| Brief text description | Aluminium concentration is linking with pH. Trace metal concentration are elevated in acidified streams. And Aluminium is toxic for many organisms, including plants, macroinvertebrates and fish. |
| Long text description | Acidification (from acid rains) is decreasing pH and alkalinity. Besides increasing H+ concentration, acidification also mobilizes metals from the edaphic to the aquatic environment. So the stream's level of aluminium increase. And the toxicity of labile Aluminium (LAl) is related to the organic content of water, to temperature, and to the concentration of base cations. Inorganic aluminium is certainly the most important toxic metal in anthropogenic acidified water. |
| History of development | |
| References | (Kramer, 1976), (Lydersen et al., 2002. Metals in Scandinavian Surface Waters : Effects of Acidification, Liming and Potential Reacidification. Crictical Reviews in Environmental Science and technology. 32 (2 & 3) : 73-295), (Gensemer and Playle, 1999. The bioavailabability and toxicity of aluminium in aquatic environments. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 29:315-450.), (Hermann, 2001. Aluminium is harmful to benthic invertebrates in acidified waters, but at what threshold(s)? Water, Air and Soil Pollution. 130: 837-842) and (Havas, M. 1981. Physiological Responses of Aquatic Animals to Low pH> In: R. Singer (ed.). Effects of Acid Precipitation on Benthos, pp.49-65. Proc. Of a Regional Symposium on Benthic Biology, North American Benthological Survey, Hamilton, New-York.) |
| Geographical region (GIG) - R | |
| Ecoregion - LR | |
| Country | |
| Geographical location of source data | |
| Reference conditions | Unknown |
| Development | Existing |
| Uncertainty | Unknown |
| Link to document store | No |
| BMW Toolbox | No |
| Entry status | Unvalidated |