The present project aims to develop reliable and cost-effective
indices for measuring overall biodiversity in the water collumn
of shallow water bodies and to implement and elaborate existing
mathematical tools to predict biodiversity changes caused by
human activities, including restoration measures. Data on taxon
and gentic diversity at different trophic levels of the classical
food web (fish, zooplankton, phytoplankton) as well as of the
microbial loop (bacteria, flagellates, ciliates) will be collec-
ted in 96 shallow lakes covering a north-south gradient in
Europe. In addition, biodiversity of key components will be
measured in the resting egg pools of the lakes through hatching
experiments. Multivariate analysis will be used to extract the
most cost-effective and reliable combination of indices that
reflects overall biodiversity of the system.