Preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services is critical for sustainable development and human well-being. However, an unprecedented erosion of biodiversity is observed and the use of plant protection products (PPP) has been identified as one of its main causes. In this context, at the request of the French Ministries responsible for the Environment, for Agriculture and for Research, a panel of 46 scientific experts ran a nearly 2-year-long (2020–2022) collective scientific assessment (CSA) of international scientific knowledge relating to the impacts of PPP on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The scope of this CSA covered the terrestrial, atmospheric, freshwater, and marine environments (with the exception of groundwater) in their continuity from the site of PPP application to the ocean, in France and French overseas territories, based on international knowledge produced on or transposable to this type of context (climate, PPP used, biodiversity present, etc.). Here, we provide a brief summary of the CSA's main conclusions, which were drawn from about 4500 international publications. Our analysis finds that PPP contaminate all environmental matrices, including biota, and cause direct and indirect ecotoxicological effects that unequivocally contribute to the decline of certain biological groups and alter certain ecosystem functions and services. Levers for action to limit PPP-driven pollution and effects on environmental compartments include local measures from plot to landscape scales and regulatory improvements. However, there are still significant gaps in knowledge regarding environmental contamination by PPPs and its effect on biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services. Perspectives and research needs are proposed to address these gaps.

In this paper, we present the results from both quantitative and qualitative composition of the Gastropod fauna from Lake Ohrid (profile HBZ-Radozda) with their vertical distribution in littoral and sublittoral region of the lake. The results of our investigations shows some changes in biodiversity and the density of gastropod communities that settle this profile, compared with the investigations made 30 years ago.

In this paper are presented the investigation of macrophytic vegetation along Macedonian shore of Lake Ohrid (Radozda-Sv.Naum). The meterial were collected from 59 localities. The results of investigations show that in investigated localities were evidenced 25 different plant species. The number of macrophytic species in different localities vary from 2 to 18 macrophytic species. The differences in the number of macrophyte species are most due to the different ecological conditions in the investigated localities: temperature, light regime, type of soil, configuration of the lake bottom, water level, nutrient amount etc.

Every country must to concern the biodiversity of flora and fauna, especially in ecosystems rich with endemic and relict species. Such ecosystem is the Lake Ohrid.

Wind waves are responsible for some of the spatio-temporal gradients observed in the biotic and abiotic variables in large shallow lakes. However, their effects on the phytoplankton community composition are still largely unexplored especially in freshwater systems such as lakes. In this paper, using field observations and mesocosm bioassay experiments, we investigated the impact of turbulence generated by wind waves on the phytoplankton community composition (especially on harmful cyanobacteria) in Lake Taihu, a large, shallow eutrophic lake in China. The composition of the phytoplankton community varied with the intensity of wind waves in the different areas of the lake. During summer, when wind waves were strong in the central lake, diatoms and green algae seemed to dominate while harmful cyanobacteria dominated in the weakly influenced Meiliang Bay. Turbulence bioassays also showed that diatoms and green algae were favoured by turbulent mixing. The critical time for the shift of the phytoplankton community composition was approximately 10 days under turbulent conditions. However, short-term (6 days) turbulence is rather beneficial for the dominance of cyanobacteria. This study suggests that the duration of wind events and their associated hydrodynamics are key factors to understanding the temporal and spatial changes of phytoplankton communities.

The paper presents the results of investigation of benthic algae of the river Rasina. During April, 2001, it was determined 110 algal taxa from the divisions Cyanophyta, Bacillariophyta and Chlorophyta, which indicate the high biodiversity of algae in this river. With 97 algal taxa, Bacillariophyta is dominant. The community of benthic algae is typical for this kind of aquatic ecosystem during the spring period. Great number of algal bioindicators of highly polluted water indicates the presence of high concentration of organic compounds in this aquatic ecosystem.