The effects of road salt on freshwater ecosystems and solutions for mitigating chloride pollution - A review.

Road salt (mainly NaCl) is commonly used during the winter to ensure road and pavement safety; however, the long-term application of NaCl has negative consequences on soil and the water environment. The aims of the present review were to evaluate the impact of road salt on catchment processes which accelerate the eutrophication of waters, and to identify a possible approach for reducing the impact of winter salt treatments of roads and sidewalks, on water body quality. The objectives were implemented in accordance with the ecohydrological approach, which recommends using hierarchical steps to solve problems.

Comprehensive approach to restoring urban recreational reservoirs. Part 2 - Use of zooplankton as indicators for the ecological quality assessment.

The presented research is part of the LIFE project ("EH-REK" LIFE08 ENV/PL/000517) on innovative restoration methods for small urban impoundments in the city of Łódź (Poland). The objective was to evaluate the usefulness of zooplankton as a biological quality element, when assessing the effectiveness of restoration efforts in three urban reservoirs and a one pond. The fifth unrestored pond was used as an example of the progressive eutrophication of an urban ecosystem.

Restoration of a shady urban pond - The pros and cons.

The Bzura-7 pond (Łódź, Poland) is a typical shallow and shady urban reservoir situated on the Bzura River that is exposed to pollutants introduced mainly by internal loads and the supply from the catchment. In 2010-2012, the following characteristics were observed in the pond: a high allochthonous input of organic matter, high concentration of ammonium, low concentration of dissolved oxygen and low diversity of zooplankton, dominated mainly by Daphnia spp. From January to June 2013, restoration measures were performed, including sediment removal, increasing light access to the pond and construction of a sequential sedimentation-biofiltration system (SSBS).

Response of Daphnia's antioxidant system to spatial heterogeneity in Cyanobacteria concentrations in a lowland reservoir.

Many species and clones of Daphnia inhabit ecosystems with permanent algal blooms, and they can develop tolerance to cyanobacterial toxins. In the current study, we examined the spatial differences in the response of Daphnia longispina to the toxic Microcystis aeruginosa in a lowland eutrophic dam reservoir between June (before blooms) and September (during blooms). The reservoir showed a distinct spatial pattern in cyanobacteria abundance resulting from the wind direction: the station closest to the dam was characterised by persistently high Microcystis biomass, whereas the upstream stations had a significantly lower biomass of Microcystis.

Role of environmental factors and toxic genotypes in the regulation of microcystins-producing cyanobacterial blooms.

The aim of this study was to understand: (1) how environmental conditions can contribute to formation of Microcystis-dominated blooms in lowland, dam reservoirs in temperate climate-with the use of quantitative molecular monitoring, and (2) what is the role of toxic Microcystis genotypes in the bloom functioning. Monitoring of the Sulejow Reservoir in 2009 and 2010 in two sites Tresta (TR) and Bronislawow BR), which have different morphometry, showed that physicochemical conditions were always favorable for cyanobacterial bloom formation. In 2009, the average biomass of cyanobacteria reached 13 mg L(-1) (TR) and 8 mg L(-1) (BR), and in the second year, it decreased to approximately 1 mg L(-1) (TR and BR).