High quality water is vital for human life, and ensuring its availability is a basic requirement and a major societal aim. The Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) is a key piece of legislation for the protection and sustainable use of water in the European Union. In this work we briefly review the WFD directive and the current status of European inland surface waters. Additionally, we summarize major challenges and threats for the biological assessment of inland surface waters under climate change effects and invasion by alien species, and highlight the emerging tools and approaches that might help improve biological assessments, including molecular indices based on environmental DNA (eDNA), to new data from the Earth Observation programmes, and data-sharing platforms. Finally, we present recommendations to improve monitoring systems and assessments in the context of the WFD. Developments in this field may increase the likelihood of assuring high quality water for society.
1.Univ Porto, Ctr Invest Biodiversidade & Recursos Genet, CIBIO InBIO, Vairao, Portugal 2.Univ Lisbon, Inst Super Agron, Ctr Ecol Aplicada Prof Baeta Neves, CEABN InBio, Lisbon, Portugal 3.Univ Coimbra, Fac Sci & Technol, Dept Life Sci, MARE Marine & Environm Sci Ctr, Coimbra, Portugal 4.Univ Lisbon, Fac Ciencias, Ctr Ecol Evolucao & Alteracoes Ambientais, cE3c, Lisbon, Portugal 5.Univ Minho, Dept Biol, Ctr Mol & Environm Biol CBMA, Campus Gualtar, Braga, Portugal 6.Univ Porto, Fac Ciencias, Dept Biol, Porto, Portugal
Recommended Citation:
Filipe, Ana Filipa,Feio, Maria Joao,Garcia-Raventos, Aina,et al. The European Water Framework Directive facing current challenges: recommendations for a more efficient biological assessment of inland surface waters[J]. INLAND WATERS,2019-01-01,9(1):95-103