WHAT CONSTITUTES A SUSTAINABLE FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM?
This scientific insight is important input for the societal debate regarding which protection goals to adopt and what level of risk to consider as acceptable.To “sustain” is to hold, keep alive—literally, “able to last.” Sustainability of freshwater ecosystems may concern not only their ecological properties but also their economic and social functions. In surface waters adjacent to agricultural fields, it is not realistic to keep the freshwater communities in a condition comparable to that in nature reserves. Nevertheless, we recognize the multifunctional character of freshwater ecosystems in the agricultural landscape, including their ecological functions. The interest in ecological risk assessment is to contribute to the sustainable management of freshwater ecosystems. However, sustainable freshwater ecosystems may include both pristine and disturbed multifunctional ecosystems (e.g., agroecosystems), preventing a simple definition of a sustainable ecosystem.Within the context of the
