Effects of a retaining wall and an artificial embankment on nearshore littoral habitats and biota in a large Alpine lake

Abstract

The littoral zones of many Central European lakes are severely altered by lake-side retaining walls. These are suspected to impair littoral biota due to the reflection of incoming wave energy. We conducted a comparative study (armoured shore with a retaining wall and a restored shore with a wedge-shaped cobble embankment vs. a pristine shore) at a wind-exposed shore section of Lake Constance. The retaining wall had a number of significant remote effects on the littoral zone, i.e. increased near-bottom current velocities, higher bed-load transport rates, coarsening of surface sediments, reduction in phytomass density, reduction in total densities and number of taxa of macroinvertebrates as well as a significant decline in the percentages of Limnomysis benedeni Czerniavsky, 1882, Ostracoda, Corbicula fluminea O.F. Müller, 1774, Dreissenapolymorpha (Pallas, 1771) and other Bivalvia. However, the significantly affected zone had a rather narrow width of ~ 3 m. Shore restoration measures are needed to remediate negative effects of retaining walls and re-establish ecological conditions that are comparable to those of pristine shores. We recommend a more site sensitive sampling strategy, e.g. for macroinvertebrates in context with the ecological quality assessment under the European Water Framework Directive.