Utilizzo di macrofite come bioindicatori nelle acque interne dell’Agro Pontino (Lazio meridionale).

Macrophyte indexes are a useful instruments for assessing the functionality and structure of aquatic ecosystems. Their effectiveness, also in relationship with the most popular indexes based on macrobenthic community analysis, allowed their spread in many European countries. The Directive 2000/60/EC (Water Framework Directive) includes macrophytes between biological quality elements for classification of water bodies. In this study were applied 3 macrophyte indexes of trophic state identified among those with high efficiency and distribution in Europe: IBMR, TIM and MTR. In the period 2005-2008 were performed 67 macrophyte sampling in 47 sites; moreover floristic and vegetation survey were performed on 220 sites along the hydrographic network of Agro Pontino (Province of Latina, Lazio). The flora observed amounted to 207 taxa, about one third of which was sampled in the macrophyte survey.The application of macrophyte indexes showed that most stations are characterized by medium to high trophic level. Among the indexes used, only the IBMR index demonstrates wide applicability and reliability.