A new WFD—compliant littoral macroinvertebrate index for monitoring and assessment of Mediterranean lakes (HeLLBI)

A new multimetric index (HeLLBI) based on littoral benthic macroinvertebrates is presented in this paper for classification of Greek natural lakes, in compliance with the requirements of Water Framework Directive (WFD). The method was developed based on the collection of littoral benthic invertebrate fauna and environmental data from 109 sampling sites in 21 natural lakes of the Greek National Water Monitoring Network. We focused the analysis on the effects of shore morphological alterations and eutrophication to the littoral invertebrate fauna, identified to family level, except oligochaetes, which were identified as a class, and more particularly to taxonomic composition and abundance, to taxa sensitivity, and to richness/diversity. Three metrics were included in the multimeric index: the relative abundance of Odonata classes, the Average Score per Taxon, and the Simpson’s diversity index. The metrics were converted to ecological quality ratios and ecological class boundaries were defined. The final multimetric index HeLLBI is expressed as an arithmetic average of normalized ecological quality ratios of the above metrics and a final score was assigned to each lake. Pressure-response relationships of HeLLBI scores were statistically tested for morphological alterations, expressed as percentage of artificial shoreline, and eutrophication, expressed as total phosphorus. The HeLLBI scores correspond to ecological classes, according to WFD, and sampling sites with different ecological status contained distinct biological communities; those at high status where more diverse and with sensitive taxa and as the water quality deteriorated, macroinvertebrate assemblages consisted of fewer and more tolerant to degradation taxa. The HeLLBI method gave a reliable assessment of littoral benthic invertebrate fauna of Greek natural lakes and could be a useful tool for the classification of ecological status of other Mediterranean lakes. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10661-021-09493-1.