Trophieindikation in Fließgewässern mit Hilfe des TIM (Trophie-Index Makrophyten) - Erprobung eines neu entwickelten Index im Inninger Bach

The river Inninger Bach represents the outflow of the lake Wörthsee (Bavaria). The mean pH of the calcareous river has a value of ca. 8 during the vegetation period, the mean conductivity is about 350 to 400 μS/cm. The macrophyte vegetation of the river course was mapped and the nutrient concentrations of both the water body and the sediment were measured. In every mapping section the Trophic Index of Macrophytes (TIM) was calculated. By cluster analysis the mapping sections were grouped into three zones which differed in macrophyte vegetation. These differences are not associated with varying nutrient concentrations but are mainly due to differences in the degree of shading. In spite of the characterisation of the lake Wörthsee as oligo-mesotrophic the river Inninger Bach, which represents the outflow of the lake Wörthsee, is classified as meso-eutrophic by the Trophic Index of Macrophytes TIM. The increased trophic state of the river compared to the lake is caused by the river Krebsbach, a small tributary flowing into the river Inninger Bach only a short stretch downstream of its outflow of the lake Wörthsee. The river Krebsbach shows a total phosphorus concentration of about 56 μg/L P. The input of diaspores of submerged macrophytes both from the oligo-mesotrophic lake Wörthsee and the eutrophic river Krebsbach leads to a submerged vegetation comprising species with different optima in regard to the trophic situation. This is one of the main reasons why many values of the TIM have to be labeled as "not sure".