Benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the littoral zone of Greek lakes

Abstract

Greek natural lakes are discerned into three categories according to depth: very shallow lakes (GR-VSNL, mean depth< 3m), shallow lakes (GR-SNL, mean depth: 3-9 m) and deep lakes (GR-DNL, mean depth >9 m) (Kagalou et al., 2021). Lake zoobenthos is regularly examined for the classification of ecological status according to Water Framework Directive (WFD) (EU, 2000). Research objectives are to present the benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the Greek natural lakes, classify their ecological status & to investigate potential differences in benthic macroinvertebrate communities according to lake depth.