text:
Q: Earth Engine: How to input band values of image to a tensorflow model trained on array of values I have a TensorFlow model that is trained on an array of reflectance values (red, green, blue, nir) to predict sediment (SSC).
Now, I want to use Landsat 8 image over a region to get the SSC for each pixel in the image.One way that I'm aware of but not sure of implementation is to export each band of image to Google Drive as a GeoTIFF and then read in the file to Colab using the rasterio package.
Here is my code:
L8imgs = (ee.ImageCollection('LANDSAT/LC08/C01/T1_SR').filterDate(startDate, endDate).filterBounds(ROI))
L8imgs = L8imgs.select(['B2', 'B3','B4','B5'], ['blue', 'green', 'red', 'nir'])
L8imgs = L8imgs.map(runModel)

def ann_SSCL8(img):
  I = ee.Image(img)
  ## HOW TO INPUT BAND VALUES AS ARRAY TO tfModel ??
  input=[I.select('blue'),I.select('green'), I.select('nir'), I.select('red')]
  ssc = tfModel.predict(input)    #tfModel stored on drive

A: I was finally able to solve by using image.sampleRectangle() to export the band values as array (like this) to input to the TensorFlow model. But because my region was much bigger than the allowed limit of 262144 pixels, I had to break the region into small manageable chunks (which I did separately in ArcMap and then imported into GEE) followed by mosaicing the output.
Hope it helps others.


Is This New Gent & Jawns Track The Biggest Trap Release of December?
VA/ DC based duo Gent & Jawns released a dirty bubblin' trap original called TURNUP about 30 minutes ago and it may be the biggest drop of December. Before you press play I suggest plugging into a worthy set of speakers without fear of neighborly retaliation for the level of bass at this time of night. TURNUP is full of patented swagger, an absolute must in order for artists' to define a reputation as a cornerstone in the flooded market that trap has become. This track is a clean, lively, big room trap anthem which I expect to hear in sets in due time.
Although G&J may not be household names throughout the scene, they are widely respected amongst other artists and bolster support from Diplo, Mad Decent, Bro Safari, Tittsworth and and so many more. I've seen a number of heads rocking the logo T around at shows from DC to Richmond (the pride of my city).


text:
England vs Red Dragons Rugby Preview_Rugbystream
England vs The Red Dragons has always been one of the most highly charged encounters in the six nations unlikely to be any different when these teams will meet at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday 9th March 2014. England will definitely come out for revenge after a dominating Wales stripped them of RBS 6 Nations glory in 2013. Last year Wales defeated English rugby team by a sympathetic 30-3 winning in the final match of The six nations tournament which is their biggest ever win over the English. Also England was denied the Grand Slam and the Six Nations title when they were humiliated at the Millennium Stadium last year. So that we can understand England will not take this match as for granted. At any cost they will try to end up all their previous calculations. It is sure to be a hotly contested match and Twickenham is going to raise the challenge of yet another encounter with Wales when the competition reaches a potentially central at the end of week.
England vs Red Dragons Rugby Preview DATE, KICK OFF, VENUE
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT (UTC+0)
Coverage: All matches live on BBC TV, radio and BBC Sport website
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Players to watch For England:
Chris Robshaw reappointed England captain who first led his country for the 2012 tournament, and has captained the side in 19 of their last 22 Tests. There is considerable excitement about various young players head coach Stuart Lancaster has at his disposal. Manu Tuilagi, Marland Yarde and Tom Croft will remain out of stadium for varying periods of time because of their injuries. But still individuals like Bath fly-half George Ford, Gloucester back Jonny May, Exeter wing Jack Nowell and Bath talent are some names of brilliant team members of English team.
Players to watch For Wales:
Welsh team was more smart and cunning than power and inhumanity. Their forwards are indeed only the fourth biggest in the tournament in terms of weight. Wales is in a way to create rugby history if they win for the third season in a row. The presence of George North in the backline makes this team heavier than any of their Six Nations rivals on average.
Head to Head:
England has won 28 of the 47 matches staged against Wales at Twickenham. The two European giants have met 124 times whereas England and Wales both won 56 matches. But England steps forward with 1546 points.
England vs Wales Rugby Previous Results:
2000: England vs Wales 46-12 Wales (Twickenham)
2001: Wales 15-44 England (Cardiff)
2002 England 50-10 Wales (Twickenham)
2003 Wales 9-26 England (Cardiff)
2005 Wales 11-9 England (Cardiff)
2006 England 47-13 Wapes (Twickenham)
2007 Wales 27-18 England (Cardiff)
2011Wales 19 – 26 England (Cardiff)
2012 England 12 – 19 Wales (Twickenham)
2013 Wales 30 – 3 England (Cardiff )
England Elite Player Squad:
Backs: M Benjamin (Leicester), F Burns (Gloucester), E Daly (Wasps), S Hill (Exeter), J Joseph (Bath), D Lewis (Exeter), J Simpson (Wasps), H Slade (Exeter), S Rokoduguni (Bath), M Tait (Leicester), T Varndell (Wasps).
Forwards: N Catt (Bath), C Clark (Northampton), W Collier (Harlequins), S Dickinson (Northampton), D Ewers (Exeter), J George (Saracens), J Gibson (Leicester), G Kitchener (Leicester), G Kruis (Saracens) , C Matthews (Harlequins), L Wallace (Harlequins), A Waller (Northampton), D Ward (Harlequins), S Wilson (Newcastle).
Wales Elite Player Squad:
Forwards: Paul James (Bath), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Ryan Bevington (Ospreys), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Emyr Phillips (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Rhodri Jones (Scarlets), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Perpignan), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Andrew Coombs (Dragons), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton Capt (Cardiff Blues), Toby Faletau (Dragons), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets)
Backs: Rhodri Williams (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Racing Metro), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), James Hook (Perpignan), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints), Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Liam Williams (Scarlets).
◂ England vs Scotland Rugby Preview_Rugbystream
Wales vs Les Bleus Preview_rugbystream ▸

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<?php

namespace App\Ship\Criterias\Eloquent;

use App\Ship\Parents\Criterias\Criteria;
use Prettus\Repository\Contracts\RepositoryInterface as PrettusRepositoryInterface;

/**
 * Class OrderByCreationDateAscendingCriteria.
 *
 * @author  Mahmoud Zalt <mahmoud@zalt.me>
 */
class OrderByCreationDateAscendingCriteria extends Criteria
{

    /**
     * @param                                                   $model
     * @param \Prettus\Repository\Contracts\RepositoryInterface $repository
     *
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function apply($model, PrettusRepositoryInterface $repository)
    {
        return $model->orderBy('created_at', 'asc');
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Staff Reports 08:31PM / Tuesday March 29, 2011
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mark Petrino is calling it quits and heading West.
"I'm ready for something new," said a cheerful Petrino on Tuesday, who opened his namesake cafe on the Main Street corner barely a year ago. What's new is an offer he couldn't refuse from Colorado State, which will put him back into college food service.
It was Williams College that brought him to the Berkshires, then long miles traveling to colleges around the area for for AVI Foodsystems put him back into restaurant mode. Now he's ready for academia again.
Petrino's is the third eatery to try the corner of Holden and Main, following in the footsteps of the Cup & Saucer and Applachian Bean. It offered up fresh and local fare for breakfast and lunch, with various wraps along with some really great burgers, coffees and specialties. All the sandwiches were named after "relatives" to give it a homey touch. Our favorite is the Cousin Mary (chicken, chipotle sauce and Provolone) with an occasional Counsin Paulie (turkey, spring greens and feta on a panini roll).
It's no secret that the restaurant biz is the hardest, and this season has been brutal — too much snow and cold was keeping people inside. The restaurant has been closed on Mondays since February and rumors of its closure were going around weeks ago. Asked last week on the eatery's status, Petrino said he hadn't made a decision yet.
But Petrino says the new owner (he didn't want to say who yet) is in negotiations with building owner David Carver and is expected to take ownership as soon as next week. The new proprietor is considering getting an alcohol license and change to later hours, he said.
The cafe could close for a couple weeks to give the new owner a chance to do some renovations and "put his stamp on it," said Petrino, but it will be open in time for the avalanche that is the Solid Sound Festival in June.
"He knows Wilco is a cash cow," said Petrino, "he'll be open."
On a related note, we received some concern over the status of Desperados on Eagle Street on Monday after a large blue tarp was seen covering the entrance. No vandalism, broken glass or anything drastic — the restaurant was putting down new floor tile and had covered the entranceway to create a workspace.
Tags: coffeehouse, North Adams, Desperados
North Adams Sushi House Opens For Business
Andy McKeever 04:26PM / Sunday February 06, 2011
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Downtown now has its own sushi restaurant.
The Sushi House opened with a full menu and bar Sunday at 45 Main St.
A grand opening event is yet to be planned but the restaurant is now welcoming customers.
Meng Wu Wang opened the restaurant to complement his China Buffet also on Main Street and just around the corner.
The site was the location for several years of Tangiers Boutique, a gift shop and tanning salon that closed last year.
The restaurant will be open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 until 11 and Sundays from noon until 10:30 p.m.
Tags: North Adams, Sushi
Tammy Daniels 05:09PM / Wednesday November 17, 2010
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — It's been five years but local favorite Desperados is back. The Mexican restaurant will reopen downtown on Monday.
After purchasing the 23 Eagle St. location in September, owner David Atwell only has to wait for a few more permits and a little fine tuning before opening to the public.
"Monday we did a meet and greet with some of my vendors, some people from town, City Hall and friends and family to show them what we did to the place," Atwell said on Wednesday. "We'll have a soft opening to the public on Monday, Tuesday at the latest."
Confident the final licenses will be approved in the next couple of days, Atwell expects to fire up the kitchen this weekend. The North Adams location will feature the same menu as the one in the Colonial Shopping Center in Williamstown. It will be open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. and 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. It will be closed on Sundays.
Atwell previously said that his first North Adams attempt, on Ashland Street, failed partly because of rental costs. This time, he owns it. Atwell closed with Legacy Bank to purchase the 4,200-square-foot property and its contents for $156,000 in September.
Despite taking over a location that has hosted a string of failed businesses, most recently The Alley which shut down abruptly in January, Atwell expects to stay for a long time.
"We've got 19 years of history in Williamstown so we finally got it right," Atwell said. "It's a small place, easy to manage and we've got a good following in North Adams. We expect to be in this location for a long time."
Atwell also said being one of the few Mexican dining places in the county will help him succeed where others have not.
Tags: Desperados, North Adams, Eagle Street
Street Food, Northern Berkshire Style
Tammy Daniels 12:00AM / Monday June 28, 2010
Colleen Taylor of FYP and Taylor's was chatting up Michael Gallagher of Square Roots Farm.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Northern Berkshire Food Festival on Sunday had easily its best showing in years, if not best ever. There were more restaurants, more variety, more music and more people — many more people — than the past few years.
The 9-year-old event has had its ups and downs, plagued by rain or searing temperatures and inconsistent participation. Some of the eateries from that first fest don't even exist anymore.
But there's always been a hardcore dozen or so restaurants and food vendors that set up under tents for an afternoon of dining.
Shish kabob & chicken jambalaya
This year, hundreds, likely well more than a thousand, packed Main Street from 1 to 4 to sample from 17 food purveyors. Rod Bunt of the Office of Tourism, which organizes the event, said more than 18,000 tickets (at 50 cents apiece) had been sold by 1:30. That's compared to nearly 15,000 total last year.
"I don't know how many people that is but I'd say it's a lot," said Bunt.
The new setup certainly helped the event's success. Instead of clumping the tents at the east end of the street the entire south side of Main Street was closed off and the tents spread down from about Hoosac Bank past Holden Street. The layout also offered far more seating than before and kept people walking along the street between the tents. The new benches also offered a spot to sit and listen to the musicians playing.
Councilor Lisa Blackmer, chairman of the Community Development Committee, said the idea was to include the galleries at the west end of the street and open the way to grow it next year.
"This was much better," said Kate Schilling of The Hub, whose booth was just a hop away. "It's much more spread along the street and it's a better layout."
The foot traffic also helped Creations, which owner and City Councilor Keith Bona had opened for the afternoon. (Sadder was the "almost free stuff" being picked over in front of Tangiers, which is closing at the end of the month.)
Romaine fresh from the field.
There was a lot of variety, too. Along with the usual pizza suspects, attendees could chose from Spanish, Italian, diner, fine dining, vegan and Indian. And, what seems an obvious addition, fresh root and early garden greens from Square Roots Farm in Clarksburg. I picked up bok choy and some nice-looking radishes; Bona was spotted munching on a stalk of romaine.
Being a regular customer of most of the downtown eateries, I opted to try something different: a beef shish kabob from Lucia's Latin Homestyle Spanish Cooking washed down with a pale ale from Girardi Distributors. The sausage tasted a lot like kielbasa. The beef was great — rare, moist and tender. I also tried some chicken jambalaya from Wild Oats Market that was a lot lighter than expected and had a nice spicy kick.
A half pan of jambalaya was all that was left, said chef Greg Roach, who figured he'd gone through more than 200 servings. The cookies were long gone. Many of the vendors ran out of one or more items by the end of the afternoon; Schilling was cleaned out and the final few bread puddings were given away.
Seven Blakeman of the Elf Parlor said she'd run out of everything by around 3 p.m. "I never did anything like this before," she said. "I didn't know what expect."
Make more mini food like these baby burgers.
Overall, the restaurant owners as well as the organizers were pleased with the turnout. There were plenty of politicians on hand, too. Both candidates for sheriff, Dan Bosley and Tom Bowler, were there with their T-shirted posses; all three candidates for 1st Berkshire District, Gailanne Cariddi, David Bissaillon and Edward MacDonald, were schmoozing. Also spotted in the crowd were a number Clark Art and Mass Moca stickers, a very good sign.
Organizers are hoping for even bigger and better next year. One suggestion, encourage the vendors to offer more small bites for fewer tickets: think amuse bouche. Supreme Pizza was offering its version of Bananas Foster (very sweet) on a toothpick ("That was perfect," said Blackmer,) for a ticket. Lickety Split had peewee cones (Blue Blazer) for two. I had both, and would tried more if I hadn't been full of shish kabob and jambalaya (mostly shish kabob). I forgot to go back and get a mango lassi from Spice Root but I'm not sure I could've fit it in.
What was the best dish in your opinion? Post here or on our Facebook page.
Tags: Food Festival, North Adams
Petrino's Open and Humming
Staff Reports 06:54PM / Friday April 09, 2010
We are served at Petrino's Cafe on Main Street in North Adams on Friday while Mark Petrino takes an order. Everybody wears a shirt with the cafe's basil leaf logo.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Petrino's Cafe has been operating for a week now and owner Mark Petrino says things have been going well.
We finally got a chance to try it today and really liked the new decor and interior setup. Mark made good on his promise to move the deli case so that it's immediately visible when you walk in the door. It's also easier to get to the counter because the tables have been rearranged in a much better pattern.
The Cup & Saucer was like walking into a classroom — all the tables lined up like a regiment, making things a little too cozy if you wanted a private conversation. If you were waiting for takeout, you were always standing next to someone's table.
The new layout gets you out of people's way while you're waiting; plus, you can see the (cold) sandwiches right in the deli case. The interior's a lot brighter and the couch in the front has been moved to the back. Tables have replaced it in the window, which makes a lot more sense from a business standpoint. Why would you want potential customers to see people lounging with coffee when the money's in the food?
The tables and chairs are nicer, too. No more old schoolroom furniture.
We talked to couple regulars of the old cafe who were trying the new cafe for the first time. Their impressions were very positive, although Joe Manning says ditch the big TVs. Not good for conversation, he says, plus it feels like you're staring at the diners below — or being stared at if it's your table that's below.
We tried the Cousin Mary, a chicken breast with spinach, provolone and avocado in a whole-wheat wrap with a hint of chipotle sauce. Pretty good but for healthy eating, we'd like something other than chips on the side.
The cafe's offering a variety of wraps and sandwiches with fresh meats and vegetarian choices, burgers, steaks and salads. Breakfast is served until 11 a.m. with burritos, omelets and specials. On our list to try is the banana-stuffed ciabatta French toast with a meat side.
We've also been told the hours may change from 6 to 2 to 7 to 3 because more people are coming in later than earlier. The Web site's up, too, and actually posts soup and salad specials for the day. Yay for keeping the page current.
Tags: Petrino's, North Adams
Petrino's Hancock Shaker Village Soup Farm Breakfast Barbecue Wild Oats Books Csa North Adams Farmers Market Competition Award Fundraiser Wing Fling Eagle Street Great Barrington Farming Restaurant Cafe Festival Food Alberg Pittsfield Hops And Vines Beverages Local Food Winterfest Gluten-free Mezze Mediterranean Sushi Chocolate Food Festival Berkshire Grown


text:
Biological Invasions
November 2016 , Volume 18, Issue 11, pp 3251–3264 | Cite as
Elodea canadensis (Michx.) in Polish lakes: a non-aggressive addition to native flora
Agnieszka Kolada
Sebastian Kutyła
Non-indigenous invasive aquatic plants affect macrophyte community composition, structure and abundance, and are recognised as one of the major causes of biodiversity loss in aquatic ecosystem. Their mass development poses serious ecological, sociological and economical threats in many countries. We investigated biological, physicochemical, hydromorphological and geographical data from 447 Polish lowland lakes to recognise the phenomenon of invasive macrophyte species and to identify environmental factors that determine their occurrence and abundance. We focused on Elodea canadensis (EC) as the most common and widespread alien hydrophyte in Poland. Phytocoenoses of EC were present in 40 % of analysed lakes. The area occupied by EC ranged from 2.3 to 5.5 % of the total vegetated area per year, on average, with a maximum of 37.8 %. A comparison between two sub-periods (2005–2009 and 2010–2013) revealed a lack of increase in EC mean abundance within the analysed period. Likewise, no evidence of EC effects on the native flora, its richness and diversity and no effects on the ecological status of the lakes were found. In the analysed period, EC did not demonstrate invasive character in Polish lakes. The habitat preference of EC was biased towards larger and deeper lakes located at higher altitudes, with longer water retention times, better water quality and better ecological status based on macrophytes compared with non-invaded lakes. We found altitude and water quality as the main determinants of EC occurrence within the sampled area. We suggest that both climate warming and accelerated eutrophication may contribute to reducing EC spread in Europe observed during recent decades.
Canadian waterweed Alien species Invasive plants Macrophytes Lakes Poland
Electronic supplementary material
The online version of this article (doi: 10.1007/s10530-016-1212-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
The problem of the appearance of alien species and their impact on native biological assemblages has become especially weighty during the past century, as the development of transport and international trade has contributed to the rapid and pervasive spread of species beyond their natural range of occurrence (Hussner et al. 2010; Lenda et al. 2014). In the past two decades, there has been a marked increase in the number of scientific papers concerning the growing threat to native fauna and flora from invasive alien species (Thomaz et al. 2015). One of the most common definitions used in many ecological studies, though relatively vague, describes alien invasive species as those that colonise and spread into new territories where they have never occurred before (definition overview in Pyšek 1995). In their new territories, alien species can expand their populations either in terms of geographical area and/or in terms of increasing frequency and density. These species also can be referred to as aggressive invaders, as defined by Simberloff and Rejmánek (2011). According to recent European Union legislation, invasive alien species are defined as those that are, firstly, outside their natural distribution area, and that, secondly, threaten or adversely impact biodiversity and related ecosystem services (EU 2014).
The rates of geographical spread and successful establishment of species that are non-native to certain regions are determined by an array of biotic and abiotic factors that include, among others, the number and size of release events, i.e. propagule pressure (Lockwood et al. 2005; Redekop et al. 2016), the availability of vectors and pathways for propagule dispersal (Panov et al. 2009; Redekop et al. 2016), proper habitat conditions such as nutrient and light availability (Thiébaut 2005) or climate (Chytrý et al. 2009), as well as favourable ecological interactions (overview in Fleming and Dibble 2015). The introduction of submerged weeds into a waterbody largely depends on human activities (Lockwood et al. 2005; Hussner et al. 2010), and the more propagules are introduced, the more likely the dispersal of the species within and between waterbodies and the higher the likelihood of successful invasion and establishment (Lockwood et al. 2005; Redekop et al. 2016). Moreover, ecosystems disturbed by human pressure are more prone to invasions than stable, undisturbed ecosystems (Hussner et al. 2010), because the ecological niche of lost macrophytes can be easily colonised by other species (Bakker et al. 2013), including exotic ones (Zehnsdorf et al. 2015). Thus, waterbodies more exposed to anthropogenic influences (trade, tourism pressure, increase in population density and increased eutrophication) are more likely to be invaded than less affected ones. The dispersal of species between waterbodies is strongly related to hydrological connectivity (Panov et al. 2009), with rivers and canals serving as invasion corridors. Thus, it can be assumed that flowing waters (including open lakes) would be more prone to invasion than, for example, more isolated lakes with closed basins.
The ecological impact posed by alien species includes an array of mechanisms and scenarios, of which competition is widely regarded as one of the most important for aquatic plant communities (Fleming and Dibble 2015). Mass development of a successfully established plant invaders modifies macrophyte community composition, structure and abundance, and leads to biodiversity loss that is recognised as one of the major negative environmental outcomes of invasion. Apparently, not all alien species have a negative impact on local populations or ecosystems. Some of them may become naturalised and remain low in abundance, while the others (aggressive invaders) may outcompete native vegetation and cause substantial problems related to ecosystem functioning (Hussner et al. 2010). While invasive alien species may affect the taxonomic composition and functioning of ecosystems, they are also one of the subjects of interest in the Water Framework Directive (WFD; EU 2000) and must be taken into account when assessing the ecological status of surface waters, including lakes.
In a comprehensive overview of the appearance of alien plant species in surface waters in Europe, Hussner (2012) reported the highest numbers of alien aquatic plant species in Italy and France, followed by Germany, Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands, while in northern and eastern Europe the problem of invasive species seems to be marginal. In Polish waters, the number of alien plant species was negligible (Hussner 2012), especially compared with neighbouring countries, and the most common and widespread alien hydrophyte is E. canadensis (Tokarska-Guzik 2005b). Thus, the question appears: if alien species are common in neighbouring countries, why are they not so in Poland?
The low number of alien aquatic macrophyte species in Poland (Tokarska-Guzik 2005a; Hussner 2012) may suggest that some of the conditions favouring successful invasion may not be met. To resolve this, we performed a comprehensive overview of the occurrence and abundance of invasive macrophyte species in Polish lakes using a relatively long-term and geographically widespread dataset. We investigated biological, physicochemical, hydromorphological and geographical data from 447 Polish lowland lakes (571 lake-years when including repeated surveys) surveyed for macrophytes during much of the past decade (in the years 2005–2013) within the lake monitoring programme and other national research projects. All of the analysed lakes are natural and are considered significant waterbodies sensu WFD (i.e. they have an area greater than 0.5 km2), and constitute almost half (43 %) of the significant lake waterbodies in Poland (Kolada et al. 2005).
The primary goal of our study was to explore whether alien plant arrivals have an impact on the structure and functioning of macrophytes in Poland with a special focus on: (1) E. canadensis as the most common invader in inland waters in the country and (2) lakes as a separate water category according to the WFD. We aimed at: (1) defining the range of invasion of E. canadensis in Polish lakes, its geographical spread and abundance; (2) determining the habitat requirements of E. canadensis, to identify the environments that are most likely to be invaded; (3) exploring the effects of E. canadensis on the taxonomic richness and diversity of lacustrine flora, particularly in the context of the threat that it poses to the lake ecological status, as required by the WFD.
Study system
At the beginning of the millennium, Canadian waterweed (Elodea canadensis Michaux) was reported as the only hydrophyte of among more than 300 plant species that are considered alien arrivals since the fifteenth century and are naturalised in Poland (Tokarska-Guzik 2005a). Since then, reports of the occurrence of other alien hydrophytes (i.e., Azolla filiculoides Lam., Hygrophila polysperma (Roxb.) T. Anderson, Lemna turionifera Landolt and Vallisneria spiralis L.) from Polish waters have also become available in the recent literature (Gąbka and Owsianny 2009; Szczęśniak et al. 2009; Tokarska-Guzik et al. 2014). Moreover, to our knowledge, in the lake monitoring database during the period of 2007–2013, at least one record of Elodea nuttallii St John (Lake Ryńskie, surveyed in 2010) and one record of Vallisneria spiralis (Lake Pątnowskie, surveyed in 2013) were noted (A. Kolada unpubl. obs.). The observations of the other alien hydrophyte species in Polish waters seem to be fortuitous at the present time, however, while E. canadensis remains the most common and widespread alien hydrophyte in Poland (Tokarska-Guzik 2005b).
Canadian waterweed (Elodea canadensis Michaux, hereafter referred to as EC) is a North American native species that became invasive in Europe, Asia and Australia. EC was first recorded in Europe in 1836 in Great Britain (Moore and More 1866, reviewed in Simpson 1984), and since then it has greatly expanded and colonised many running and standing waters. Recently, it has become the most widespread alien aquatic plant, reported in 41 European countries (Hussner 2012), and is among the most common alien species in the waters of north-western Europe (Hilt and Gross 2008; Hussner et al. 2010). In France and Germany, a mass development of EC has been observed (Hilt et al. 2006; Hussner et al. 2010), posing serious ecological, sociological and economical threats (Zehnsdorf et al. 2015).
The first report of EC in Poland dates to 1867 (Abromeit et al. 1898, after Tokarska-Guzik 2005b), and since then it has spread almost throughout the entire country (with the exception of mountainous areas), inhabiting all types of surface waters (Tokarska-Guzik 2005b). Since the early 1950s, EC has been recognised as a common component of aquatic flora in Poland (Kornaś and Medwecka-Kornaś 1957; Bernatowicz 1960; Rejewski 1984; Kłosowski 2006; Jabłońska and Kłosowski 2015) and is currently a naturalised species throughout the country. Despite its widespread appearance in Polish waters, to our knowledge, no comprehensive overview of EC frequency, abundance and invasion in lakes has been carried out. Neither the effects of EC on species richness and diversity nor its effects on lake ecological status have been evaluated until recently.
Lakes and lake-years
Data on aquatic vegetation, morphology and water physicochemical properties from 447 Polish lowland lakes surveyed during the period 2005–2013 were analysed. Each year a different set of lakes was surveyed (from 19 lakes in 2005 to 91 in 2011; 63 lakes per year on average). Of the 447 lakes, 345 were surveyed once during the analysed period; 83 lakes were studied in 2 years, 16 lakes were studied in three years and for three lakes surveys of 4 years (with 1–7 years between surveys) were available. The final dataset was composed of complete data from 571 lake-years (surveys). All of the studied lakes are natural, lowland (<250 m a.s.l.), with non-coloured medium- to high-alkalinity waters (>0.3 meq L−1), but they differ in morphometry and trophy (Table 1).
The main morphometric and hydrographic characteristics (data for 447 lakes) and the seasonal mean of the water quality parameters (data for 571 lake-years) in lakes with and without phytocoenoses of Elodea canadensis (EC) in the phytolittoral
Variable group
Environmental variable (unit)
Lakes with EC (n = 178a/212b)
Lakes without EC (n = 269a/359b)
U-test
SD (range)
Altitude (m a.s.l)
−5.46
<0.0001
Latitude (°N)
(51.374680–54.737090)
Longitude (°E)
1.08 (0.3–113.4)
Mean depth (m)
Maximum depth (m)
17.49 (2.0–108.5)
11.04 (1.4–54.5)
Water retention time (years)
Temperature (°C, 1 m depth)
1.73 (10.5–28.2)
0.26 (7.3–9.2)
Conductivity (µS cm−1)
225.8 (60–3310)
Alkalinity (meq L−1)
Total phosphorus (µg P L−1)
57.4 (40–427)
Total nitrogen (mg N L−1)
0.609 (0.32–4.69)
Chlorophyll a (µg L−1)
Chla
Water transparency (Secchi disk, m)
U-test—results from the Mann–Whitney U-test with medians (marked in bold) used as a central tendencies, U-statistics recalculated to Z-statistics
SD standard deviation
aNumber of lakes
bNumber of lake-years (surveys)
Biological and environmental data
Data on macrophytes were collected within the national lake monitoring programme (513 lake surveys from the period of 2007–2013), the Polish–Norwegian Research Fund (PNRF) Project 'deWELopment' (11 lakes surveyed in 2009; Kolada et al. 2014) and other national research projects (47 lakes surveyed in 2005–2006; Ciecierska 2008; Kolada 2010).
The aquatic vegetation of all the lakes was surveyed once a year during the peak of the vegetation season (June–September) using a unified field survey procedure based on the transect method (Ciecierska and Kolada 2014). The observations of aquatic vegetation were made along 30 m wide belt transects set perpendicularly to the shoreline and covering the whole vegetated zone, from the shoreline to the outer limit of macrophyte growth. The observations were made by wading and boating with the use of a rake and a bathyscope. At each transect the maximum colonisation depth, the mean vegetation coverage and the relative coverage of all the submerged, floating-leaved and emergent plant communities (syntaxa) were determined. Data collected within transects were then readjusted to the whole-lake scale. For the identification and classification of aquatic plant communities, the phytosociological approach was applied (Braun-Blanquet 1964). The plant communities were identified on the basis of their dominant species, and the syntaxonomic systems established by Brzeg and Wojterska (2001) and Matuszkiewicz (2002) were adopted.
Data on the water quality of 11 lakes were collected within the PNRF project 'deWELopment' (Soszka and Ochocka 2011), while those for all the other lakes used in the study were collected within the national lake monitoring programme; the latter data are owned by the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Poland. The lakes were sampled for water physicochemistry and chlorophyll a in the same year as the vegetation surveys were conducted, four times during the vegetation season, from March to October. In this study, the seasonal means of pH, alkalinity, water temperature at 1 m depth, concentrations of total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll a and water transparency as measured with a Secchi disk were analysed (Table 1). Morphological, hydrological and geographical data for all of the analysed lakes were derived from the national monitoring database. In this analysis, data on lake surface area, maximum and mean depths, water volume, water retention time (time needed for complete water exchange), latitude, longitude and altitude of the lake centre point were used (Table 1).
Statistical analyses
The spatial distribution, relative abundance and habitat requirements of EC in lakes were analysed. The spatial distribution of EC in lakes throughout the country was explored using GIS tools (ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced version 10.2). The average area occupied by EC as a proportion of the total vegetated area (hereafter referred to as %area_EC) in subsequent years was compared using the Kruskal–Wallis test.
Links between environmental parameters and the taxonomic composition of lakes invaded or not invaded by EC were tested with the use of canonical community ordination techniques in the CANOCO 4.5 software (ter Braak and Šmilauer 2002). Seventy-eight plant communities of submerged and floating-leaved vegetation identified in all the lakes (Table S1 in Online Resources) were used to estimate the length of a gradient in the standard deviation of species (or plant communities in this case) turnover using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). As the gradient of biological data tested was sufficiently long (4.27 SD), the unimodal context was assumed and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) with untransformed species data was further applied to identify environmental variables shaping the vegetation pattern in the analysed lakes (ter Braak and Šmilauer 2002).
Pre-selection of the environmental variables was performed by applying principal component analysis (PCA). Fifteen abiotic parameters, including geographical distribution, lake morphology, hydrography and selected water quality indicators were tested. The parameters are listed in Table 1. The data were tested for normal distribution and data on TP, TN and SD were log-transformed. The PCA produced five significant principal components (eigenvalues >1.0), with the first three components together explaining 57.5 % of the total lake variance (26.1, 18.4 and 12.9 %, respectively). The variables which were not inter-correlated (Spearman's rho |<0.7|) and were best correlated with the first three principal components (factor loadings |>0.6|), were selected and used in the CCA. The distribution of lakes invaded or not invaded by EC in an ordination space described by the pre-selected environmental determinants was compared. To identify plant communities concomitant with EC phytocoenoses, the distribution of plant communities in the CCA ordination space (inter-species distance) was analysed.
To characterise EC habitat requirements in a more quantitative manner, the environmental factors listed in Table 1 were compared between EC invaded and non-invaded lakes using the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U-test, with the median as a measure of the central tendency. Moreover, the ecological status of EC invaded and non-invaded lakes was compared according to the Ecological State Macrophyte Index (ESMI; Ciecierska and Kolada 2014). The ESMI is the WFD-compliant multimetric for assessing the ecological status of lakes exposed to eutrophication pressure applied in lake monitoring in Poland. It evaluates the state of macrophyte composition and structure in relation to the state expected in undisturbed (reference) conditions. The values of the ESMI range from 0 to 1, where 1 describes almost pristine and 0 the most disturbed conditions. Values below 0.410 indicate lakes in unacceptable conditions (lakes requiring restoration measures), and values above 0.680 indicate lakes with very good ecological status based on their macrophytes.
To investigate the current trends in EC performance in Polish lakes, of the 102 lakes surveyed more than once during the analysed period, 45 were selected for which at least one survey during the first (2005–2009) and the second sub-period (2010–2013) was available and where EC was noted at least once. For those of the 45 lakes that were surveyed more than once during one or both sub-periods, for the first sub-period the oldest and for the second sub-period the most recent survey was used. For each of the selected 45 pairs of surveys, comparisons of the share of the area inhabited by EC and the main richness, diversity and evenness measures (Heip et al. 1998) as well as the Ecological State Macrophyte Index (Ciecierska and Kolada 2014) between the two sub-periods were conducted using paired sample t tests (repeated measures with normal distribution; for all indices in both sub-periods Shapiro–Wilk W > 0.05). The analysed measures included the total numbers of hydrophyte communities (syntaxa; S), the Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H′ with natural logarithm as a base; Shannon and Weaver 1949), the Simpson's index of diversity (1 − λ; Simpson 1949; Pielou 1975) and the Pielou's index of evenness (Pielou 1975). Statistical analyses were performed using STATISTICA version 10.0 software (StatSoft Inc. 2011).
Distribution and abundance
The distribution of EC in the analysed lakes was limited to the central-north and lowland (≤242 m a.s.l.) part of the country (Fig. 1; Table 1) as all of the Polish lakes with an area greater than 0.5 km2 are located there, within the range of the Baltic glaciation (Kolada et al. 2005). The phytocoenoses of EC were present in 178 of 447 lakes (40 %) and in 212 of 571 surveys (37 %) (Fig. 1). The number of lakes surveyed each year ranged from 19 in 2005 to 91 in 2011, and the number of lakes where EC was present ranged from 9 in 2006 to 35 in 2010 (Fig. 2a). The proportion of lakes with EC in a set of lakes surveyed in subsequent years was relatively stable and ranged from 30 % in 2007 to 58 % in 2005, most frequently being around 36 % (90th percentile). The proportion of the total vegetated area occupied by EC phytocoenoses (%area_EC) was relatively low, ranging between 0.005 and 37.8 % of the total area covered by hydrophyte communities (3.5 % on average in total; Fig. 2b). Among the surveys where EC was noted (n = 212), no statistically significant differences in %area_EC among subsequent years (Kruskal–Wallis H (8;212) = 2.50, p = 0.962; Fig. 2b) were found.
The distribution of lakes analysed in the study, surveyed from 2005 to 2013. Lakes where the phytocoenoses of Elodea canadensis were found at least once are marked with the dark circles (n = 178) and where they were absent from are marked with the light circles (n = 269)
The total number of lakes surveyed (grey bars) and the number of lakes where the phytocoenoses of E. canadensis were noted (black bars) in subsequent years of the analysed period (upper panel, a) and the area occupied by phytocoenoses of E. canadensis as proportion of the total vegetated area (%area_EC) in subsequent years of the analysed period (lower panel, b); the whisker-plots in the lower panel (b) present the quartile range with the median (boxes), non-outlier range (whiskers), outlying (circles) and extreme values (stars)
The lakes where EC was found, although located within lowlands, were clustered in areas at considerably higher altitudes (120 m a.s.l. on average) than those not invaded by EC (85 m a.s.l. on average; Fig. 3; Table 1). Of the 241 lakes located below 100 m a.s.l., EC was found in 63 (26 %), whereas of the 206 lakes located above 100 m a.s.l., 115 (56 %) were invaded by EC. Lakes invaded by EC were also more often located in northern and eastern areas compared with lakes where EC was not identified (Table 1).
The distribution of lakes with an area greater than 0.5 km2 in Poland surveyed from 2005 to 2013 where phytocoenoses of E. canadensis were present (n = 178); circle size indicates the proportion of the total vegetated area occupied by phytocoenoses of E. canadensis (%area_EC)
Habitat requirements
The nine environmental variables used in the CCA (listed in Fig. 4a) explained 7 % of the total variance in the lacustrine vegetation of the analysed lakes (total inertia 12.813, sum of all canonical eigenvalues 0.842). The first two axes of the CCA ordination accounted for 45 % of the variation in the 78 plant communities with respect to the environmental variables tested. The first axis was most strongly correlated with water transparency (R = 0.61), TN (−0.44), TP (−0.40), maximum depth (0.35) and water retention time (0.34), while the second axis was correlated with altitude (−0.41) and longitude (−0.11; Fig. 4a). In the CCA ordination space, the lakes invaded by EC (Fig. 4a, black circles) were clearly shifted towards higher altitudes and were characterised by greater depth, greater water volume, longer retention time and higher water transparency compared to the non-invaded lakes (Fig. 4a, open circles).
The CCA ordination of the lakes invaded (black circles) and not invaded by E. canadensis (open circles) (left panel, a) and 78 plant communities identified in the analysed lakes (right panel, b); the eigenvalues of axes 1 and 2 (CC1 and CC2) were 0.25 and 0.13, respectively, and the total inertia was 12.8; key to the short codes of the environmental factors in the left panel (a) is included in Table 1 and to the plant community abbreviations in the right panel (b) is included in Table S1 in Online Resources; different fonts in the right panel indicate ecological groups of plant communities: italic underlined—communities of stoneworts, italic bold—isoetids, regular—bryophytes, italic—angiosperms (excluding isoetids), EC (ELOD CANA) is marked with regular bold font
Likewise, the comparison of hydromorphological and water quality properties between invaded and non-invaded lakes confirmed that, in our study, EC was more likely to inhabit larger and deeper lakes with longer water retention times, lower seasonal mean water temperatures and better water quality than non-invaded lakes (statistically highly significant differences in almost all of the features analysed except for pH; Table 1).
Syntaxonomic composition
In the 571 lake-years analysed, 78 hydrophyte communities (syntaxa) were identified, while in 212 surveys where EC was identified, 70 hydrophyte communities were recorded (Table S1 in Online Resources). The CCA revealed a distinct horizontal gradient in the distribution of the plant communities, which was related to water trophy, with syntaxa more sensitive to eutrophication located on the right side of the ordination diagram and more tolerant syntaxa clustered on the left side. Moreover, the positions of syntaxa preferring higher altitudes were shifted towards the lower part of the diagram (Fig. 4b).
Phytocoenoses of EC were most frequently accompanied by the phytocoenoses of submerged angiosperms typical of mesotrophy and meso-eutrophy (Myriophyllum spicatum, M. verticillatum, Najas marina, Ranunculus circinatus, R. trichophyllus, Potamogeton natans, P. nodosus, Hippuris vulgaris, Callitriche cophocarpa and Lemna trisulca) and more tolerant species of stoneworts (e.g., Nitellopsis obtusa, Chara fragilis, Ch. tomentosa, Ch. aspera and Ch. vulgaris) (Table S1).
The lakes where EC was found had better ecological status based on their macrophyte index ESMI (the median value of ESMI was 0.507, which corresponds to good ecological status; n = 172) compared with lakes where EC was not identified (the median ESMI was 0.360, which corresponds to moderate ecological status; n = 307; Z = − 8.27, p < 0.0001, based on the Mann–Whitney U-test).
Effect on native flora
The comparison of the %area_EC in 45 lakes that were surveyed at least once in each sub-period (2005–2009 and 2010–2013) revealed that the EC mean abundance did not change significantly between the sub-periods (Table 2). Likewise, the syntaxonomic diversity (H′, 1 − λ) and evenness (J′) measures as well as ecological status based on the ecological state macrophyte index (ESMI) did not differ significantly between the sub-periods, though the syntaxonomic richness (S) was significantly higher in the second than in the first sub-period (Table 2).
The comparison of the relative abundance (%area_EC) and the richness (S), diversity (H′, 1 − λ) and evenness (J′) measures between two sub-periods of the analysed period (2005–2009 and 2010–2013) in lakes surveyed once within each sub-period and where phytocoenoses of Elodea canadensis (EC) were identified at least once (n1 = n2 = 45)
Measure/index
Proportion of EC in phytolittoral area
%area_EC
3.544 (0–16.70)
Number of syntaxa
Shannon-Wiener diversity index
H′
Simpson's index of diversity
1 − λ
Pielou's index of evenness
J′
Ecological State Macrophyte Index
ESMI
0.1852 (0.162–0.858)
The results for the paired sample t test statistically significant at p < 0.05 marked in bold; SD standard deviation
What is the scale of the spread and abundance of EC in Polish lakes?
The appearance of most of the alien invasive species in many European countries is fairly well documented (presence/absence data), but for the vast majority of plant invasions, studies measuring the rate of invasion in quantitative terms are scarce or absent (Pyšek 1995). The spread of EC in Poland during the last half-century and its current distribution are well documented (Tokarska-Guzik 2005a, b; Tokarska-Guzik et al. 2008; Zając et al. 2011), and these studies indicate a rapid and wide proliferation of EC in Polish waters, suggesting a serious environmental problem. The species has been classified as a transformer, i.e. an invasive plant that changes the character, condition, form or nature of ecosystems (Richardson et al. 2000). It is considered invasive on the national and international scales, with a large increase in localities, and an increase in abundance in existing localities and in colonised new localities (Tokarska-Guzik 2005a, b).
Our study provides the first comprehensive overview of the appearance of EC and its impact on native flora in a specific category of surface waters—lakes constituting significant waterbodies sensu WFD. This overview has been made on the basis of actual field surveys conducted using a standardised sampling procedure (Ciecierska and Kolada 2014) from almost five hundred lakes during a period of almost a decade (2005–2013). Concerning this specific water category, our results do not fully support the observations of other authors about the invasiveness of EC in Poland. Although we do not question the extensive geographical spread of the species throughout the country, we did not observe its mass development nor its threat to plant diversity in lakes. Therefore, in our opinion, the species cannot be considered an aggressive invader sensu Simberloff and Rejmánek (2011) nor a transformer sensu Richardson et al. (2000), at least not in lakes. This inconsistency between ours other authors' findings may be explained as follows. Firstly, our study addressed significant lake waterbodies (i.e. lakes with a surface area greater than 0.5 km2) and we cannot make conclusions about EC invasiveness in smaller lakes or in any other type of surface waters where EC may be much more aggressive. Secondly, most overviews of EC distribution in Poland have been made on the basis of the ATPOL database (Atlas of distribution of vascular plants in Poland; Zając 1978) where the basic plant mapping units are 10 × 10 km squares (Tokarska-Guzik 2005a, b; Tokarska-Guzik et al. 2008; Zając et al. 2011). This cartogram method provides information about whether the species was present or absent within a unit, but based on this information, little can be said about the species occurrence in any given water category (whether the species was found in a river, stream, canal, ditch, lake or pond) or about its abundance in a particular waterbody. Hence, the results of previous works on EC performance in Poland and ours are difficult to compare, as EC may be more aggressive in certain water categories than in others.
The hydrological connectivity of a waterbody strongly determines its exposure to invasion (Panov et al. 2009). We expected that lakes with shorter retention times (more river-like, hence, more exposed to flushing and influences of tributaries) would be more exposed to invasion due to higher propagule dispersal and the greater probability of release events compared with more isolated lakes with low rates of water exchange. Surprisingly, EC was more likely to inhabit lakes with longer water retention time (2 years on average; Table 1) compared with the non-invaded lakes (approximately ten months, on average). Lakes with longer water retention times are usually located away from the main waterway networks and are less exposed to human activities, and hence to potential release events. Intense human pressure can largely explain the invasion success of EC in western Europe (Hussner et al. 2010). Polish waters are less affected by anthropogenic influences (Hussner et al. 2010). Therefore they can most likely be assumed to be relatively stable ecosystems, with high redundancy and high functional, phylogenetic and species diversity (Fleming and Dibble 2015), thus being less susceptible to invasion. Lower anthropogenic pressure could be one of the explanations for the generally low numbers of non-indigenous species in Poland and the lower invasiveness of those alien species that have already arrived.
Which environmental factors promote EC occurrence in Polish lakes?
The environmental factors determining aggressive or non-aggressive behaviour of EC in different geographical areas are not fully understood (Mjelde et al. 2014). Light and water temperature as well as nutrition, sediment composition and inorganic carbon availability are foremost among the factors affecting the productivity of submerged macrophytes such as EC (Barko et al. 1986). Chytrý et al. (2009) pointed to the climatic reasons as one of the major factors that explain the clear differences in the number of aquatic plant species between different parts of Europe. This was also emphasised by Hussner (2012). These authors pointed in particular to a longer growing season and milder winter temperatures favouring the invasion of exotic species in countries of the south-western region, in contrast to countries of the north-eastern region with harsher climate conditions. Based on a mesocosm study, Zhang et al. (2015) demonstrated the enhanced growth of EC with increasing temperature in autumn, suggesting that EC will be a better competitor in a warmer climate. Riis et al. (2012) found that EC exhibited high plasticity in its responses to either low or high temperatures and light availability, which allowed it to be an early coloniser and generalist, thus promoting its invasiveness. In our study, the distribution of EC clearly related to altitude (Fig. 3), and, therefore, the thermal conditions. Lakes invaded by EC were located at higher altitudes (120 m a.s.l., on average, Table 1) and had longer periods with sub-zero temperatures (more than 60 days; Lorenc 2005) than those where EC was not found (85 m a.s.l. and <60 days, on average, respectively). Additionally, phytocoenoses of EC occurred in lakes with lower average seasonal surface water temperatures than non-invaded lakes (Table 1). All of the abovementioned characteristics indicate a preference of EC for lower temperatures within the sampled areas. Our findings are consistent with those reported by Greulich and Trémolières (2006), who demonstrated that in the Alsatian Rhine floodplain, EC occurred in waters with temperatures that were significantly lower than those inhabited by two other alien species of Elodea (E. nuttallii and E. ernstiae).
Accelerated eutrophication is considered one of the crucial factors favouring the invasion of alien species (Hussner et al. 2010). Canadian waterweed is known to have a wide ecological amplitude, colonising a wide range of aquatic environments, extending from peaty to calcareous sites and from mesotrophic to eutrophic conditions (Pokorný et al. 1984; Madsen et al. 1991; Thiébaut 2005; Hérault et al. 2008). In our study, although all of the sampled waterbodies were more or less eutrophic (Table 1), the occurrence of EC was clearly associated with waters of better quality, lower nutrient concentrations (concentrations of TP = 43 µg L−1 and TN = 1.1 mg L−1, on average; Table 1), higher visibility (2.5 m of Secchi disk visibility; Table 1) and better ecological status (ESMI = 0.507, on average) than waters not invaded by EC (respectively, TP = 64 µg L−1, TN = 1.7 mg L−1, SD = 1.3 m and ESMI = 0.360, on average). Likewise, in the Alsatian Rhine floodplain, EC was demonstrated to prefer waters with low to medium nutrient concentrations, significantly less rich in phosphate and ammonium than waters inhabited by other alien invaders, E. nuttallii and E. ernstiae (Greulich and Trémolières 2006). Requirements concerning water quality may also explain the EC preference for larger and deeper lakes observed in our study (Table 1), as such ecosystems are usually less eutrophied due to their larger water volume acting as a solvent for contaminants. The EC preference for less eutrophied waters observed in our study enabled us to suggest that global eutrophication may contribute to the reduction of EC proliferation in European waters and can explain to a certain extent the stabilisation of its invasion or even its withdrawal from some areas that has been observed in recent decades (Hussner 2012; Mjelde et al. 2012; Brundu 2015). It might be that in Poland EC previously inhabited more lakes but has withdrawn from some of them due to the eutrophication process. This hypothesis, however, is difficult to verify due to the lack of comparable data from the past.
Does EC affect taxonomic richness and diversity of native flora in Polish lakes?
Phytocoenoses of EC appeared to share habitat requirements with and, therefore, were most frequently accompanied by the phytocoenoses of stoneworts and submerged angiosperms (Fig. 4b, Table S1), which in general are considered relatively sensitive to eutrophication, and hence are treated as 'valuable' (usually found in un-impacted ecosystems, typical of lakes in good ecological condition; Ciecierska and Kolada 2014). This implies that, when highly invasive, EC could pose a potential threat to the most valuable elements of Polish aquatic flora. Although EC was identified in 40 % of the analysed lakes, in none of these lakes the species predominated over phytocoenoses of native species. Usually it occupied a few per cent of the total vegetated area, while a maximum share of 37.8 % was noted incidentally (Fig. 2b). The comparison of the syntaxonomic diversity and richness measures between the two sub-periods of the analysed period in the lakes invaded by EC showed no negative effects of the alien species on native flora, its richness, diversity and ecological status (Table 2). Because a relatively small subset of the lakes in our study were surveyed for macrophytes in both sub-periods (n = 45) and over a relatively short period (9 years), the study may be considered to be too limited to adequately mirror general long-term tendencies in EC behaviour. However, examples from other countries show that EC can dominate lake phytolittoral within a few years of invasion [e.g., Lake Steinsfjord in Norway (Mjelde et al. 2012)]. Thus, we assumed that if EC were going to develop dramatically, as seen in other studies, it probably would have done so during the nine-year period; hence, our findings can be considered illustrative to some extent.
The behaviour of EC varies across European regions (Mjelde et al. 2014). While in some countries, such as Germany, France and Norway, this species is seen as aggressive, rapidly expanding and displacing native species (Thiébaut 2005; Hilt and Gross 2008; Hussner et al. 2010; Mjelde et al. 2012; Zehnsdorf et al. 2015), in others, such as Slovenia, it remains non-aggressive and, even if recorded, it does not increase in abundance (Greulich and Trémolières 2006; Kuhar et al. 2010; Mjelde et al. 2014). Our results do not confirm the invasive nature of EC in Polish lakes and point to its unaggressive incorporation into native plant assemblages.
To conclude, our study indicates that populations of EC in Polish lakes are well established and stable, without evidence for further proliferation or significant negative impacts on native lacustrine flora. We found altitude and water quality to be the main determinants of EC occurrence within the sampled area. Among the lake habitats analysed in our study, EC seemed to prefer these with harsher climatic conditions and waters with lower temperatures and nutrient concentrations. Thus, we suggest that both climate warming and accelerated eutrophication may contribute to reduced EC spread and invasion, as well as to displacement of EC by the later North American arrival, Elodea nuttallii, observed in other European countries in recent decades (Simpson 1990; Barrat-Segretain 2001; Greulich and Trémolières 2006). The latter species is known to be more resistant to nutrient enrichment and temperature increases, hence more competitive and of higher invasive ability than EC (Greulich and Trémolières 2006). The fact that in more eutrophied lakes no evidence for invasion by other alien hydrophyte species was found may be explained, among other factors, by lower human pressure affecting Polish waters (hence, fewer opportunities for propagule dispersal), compared to waters in western Europe.
The Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and Voivodeship Inspectorates for Environmental Protection in Poland are kindly acknowledged as providers of monitoring data on water quality and aquatic vegetation of a substantial portion of the lakes analysed in this study. Special thanks go to Prof. Hanna Ciecierska and Dr Joanna Ruszczyńska from the University of Warmia and Mazury who supported us in the field survey during our joined research projects and who provided some of the biological data used in this study. The study was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Biological and physicochemical data on 11 lakes were acquired from the Project 'deWELopment' supported by a Grant from Norway through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism within the framework of the Polish–Norwegian Research Fund (PNRF-220-AI-1/07).
Compliance with ethical standards
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
10530_2016_1212_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (410 kb)
Online Resources: Table S1. The list of species identified in lakes surveyed during the period 2005-2013 analysed in the study, where phytocoenoses of Elodea canadensis (EC) were present (n = 212) or absent (n = 359). Supplementary material 1 (PDF 409 kb)
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Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
1.Department of Freshwater Assessment Methods and MonitoringInstitute of Environmental Protection – National Research InstituteWarsawPoland
Kolada, A. & Kutyła, S. Biol Invasions (2016) 18: 3251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-016-1212-4
Received 04 January 2016
Accepted 27 June 2016


Columbus Adventist Academy extends a warm invitation to any student who is interested in obtaining a Christian education in a Seventh-day Adventist environment. We are committed to educating children through a curriculum and activities that are based upon and are faithful to the Bible. Children may enter kindergarten if they are five years old by September 30.
Is kindergarten at CAA a full-day or a half-day program?
The Columbus Adventist Academy kindergarten program is a full-day program. There are many benefits for children to experience a full-day program, including spiritual, social, and academic development, which enhances their school experience.
What grades are included in each classroom?
Students are in single-grade classrooms for every grade for K through Grade 8. Class sizes range between 12 and 24 students.
Are before- and/or after-school care available?
Extended Care is available for students whose parents need to drop them off early and/or cannot pick them up at the close of regular school hours.
Before school, Extended Care is from 7:30 A.M.–8:30 A.M., Monday through Friday.
After school, Extended Care is from 4:00 P.M.–6:00 P.M., Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, Extended Care is from 2:45 P.M.–5:00 P.M.
Extended Care is managed by a separate provider, and payment must be negotiated with that provider. Information is available from the school secretary.
What should I do if my student is absent from school?
Please call the school office at (614) 471-2083 to report an absence or leave a message at any time. You may also email the office at caa4eternity@live.com. Please state the reason for your absence. If your student is ill, please give specific details as the state requires us to report illness symptoms. If you do not report your student's absence to the office, we will consider the absence unexcused. Always call the school office, even if you have spoken to your student's teacher.
What should I do if I have to pick my student up early from school?
To ensure that a student is taken from school only by an authorized person, a note from home must be presented to the office staff or a phone call made to the office before the student is released. When the parent or guardian arrives to pick up their student they will sign the student out and the office staff will call the student down to the office. No one is to leave the school grounds without permission.
When should I keep my student home, or when might my student be sent home?
If your child is ill to the extent that it will be difficult for him or her to participate in the activities of a normal day, it is best to keep your child home. If your child becomes ill while at school or receives an injury that requires further medical attention, you will be notified immediately.
As a general rule, we will call for your child to go home in the following cases.
Please be sure to notify the office if your child will be absent.
How will I know if school has been cancelled due to bad weather?
All families will receive a phone call and/or a text message using One Call Now. Additionally, CAA follows Columbus City School closings for inclement weather. These notices are on network television as well as radio. If there is a need to close school early due to a power outage or some other emergency, the alert process will be the same.
Is hot lunch included with tuition?
No, the cost of lunch is not included in students' tuition. Because CAA participates in the National School Lunch Program, students may bring lunch from home or order nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches each school day.
Yes, bus service is available through the Columbus City Schools.
Absolutely; we welcome visiting parents. You may call the office at (614) 471-2083 to set up a convenient time for a visit. Involved parents really make a difference, and we love seeing you at CAA. We ask that you please report to the office when you arrive at the building. We will give you a visitor's welcome badge and help you with the layout of our school.
Do you have technology in your school?
Yes, technology is integrated with classroom learning through the use of iPads, laptops, ELMOS, and interactive whiteboards.
Are all teaching staff credentialed?
Yes, all teachers are certified by the State of Ohio and The North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists K-12 Board of Education. Many of the teachers also have advanced degrees.
Is Columbus Adventist Academy accredited?
Columbus Adventist Academy is accredited by the following organizations.
In addition, CAA is a chartered nonpublic school in the state of Ohio. A chartered nonpublic school is a private school that holds a valid charter issued by the state board of education and maintains compliance with the Operating Standards for Ohio's Schools.
How does Columbus Adventist Academy compare with other schools in regard to tests scores and educational progress?
CAA has been in operation since 2002 with positive results. Most of our students do well on standardized tests, and our test scores measure favorably against other Ohio schools of our size. Moreover, our competitive curriculum has produced teachers, nurses, artists, doctors, and other professionals.
Click on this link to learn about the independent sources of financial aid that may be available for your family.
Tuition is based on the current school year fees and is payable in ten equal monthly installments beginning in August.
We take allergies seriously and ask for allergy information during the application process. Our teachers and staff will take precautionary measures to ensure a safe and clean environment for your student. In addition, our school is nut-free.
Are background checks performed on teachers and staff members?
Yes, all personnel at CAA have had a background check as a basis for employment.
What safety measures are in place at CAA?
All exterior doors to the building are kept locked during the school day, and cameras monitor the main doors and classrooms. CAA makes provisions for adequate student accident coverage. We are required to conduct regular fire, tornado, and other emergency drills in accordance with local and state laws. Regular safety inspections of all school facilities and properties are conducted.
All teachers and staff have been trained in first aid and CPR.


Anna 'OhUrAPro' Antimony used to grind on the slim margins of the Borgata $2/$5 cash games until a tournament result opened her game and life up to new possibilities.
Last November, Antimony chopped the Borgata Fall Poker Open Event #1 for $126,146. For the first time in her professional career, Antimony had the bankroll flexibility to take a deep breath and bask in the glow of the work put in to reach this point.
This wasn't Antimony's first stab at a tournament during her professional life. Antimony was a staple in lower buy-in Borgata events like the Saturday Series but never got over the hump required to play larger buy-ins or a consistent basis. Finally, she did and hasn't looked back since.
Antimony carried over her success in 2017, where she collected $167,285 in live earnings along with her first two Borgata Poker Open trophies. One of those wins came in the prestigious Six Max event where she beat a tough final table with Mark Dube and TJ Shulman finishing on the podium.
The win also represented a culmination of Antimony's efforts into improving her own game. Antimony owns a strong group of friends in the poker community, including WPT500 winner Jon Borenstein. In addition to talking over hands, Antimony watches tournament live streams to learn from other players and how they play certain spots.
Now that she has a title and more experience playing in four-figure buy-in events, the general expectation might be for Antimony to shoot higher and try to become a regular on the East Coast circuit. Not so fast.
Coming into 2018, Antimony's goals in life do not center around poker. The balance that many players seek is something Antimony wants to achieve for herself. Antimony clearly has a passion for the game but the emotional toll of having poker be the sole source of income is starting to gradually weigh on her. So, if playing less poker means more personal stability in the new year, Antimony is going to make the appropriate sacrifice.
"I'd like to venture out into new things. As much as I love the game, I can't see myself doing this my whole life for a living. I've also found I play better and am way happier when I take breaks and do non-poker stuff with friends and family," Antimony said.
The one time during next year when Antimony plans to put her full heart and soul into grinding is the World Series of Poker. Antimony limits her travel for most of the year but is already eyeing a big summer out in Las Vegas.
It could very well be her but before that time comes, Antimony is expected to play a heavy schedule in January's Winter Poker Open and perhaps come close to nearing the exit point she's searching for.


Very tired and upset stomach?
Nausiated a lot and feel sick at stomach?
Been more tired lately, upset stomach, diarrhea once, gas, slight headache, fatigue, overall unwell feeling. Is this the flu? Will it make me vomit?
Can Gralise cause stomach upset and nausea?
Taking cryselle and she as upset stomach feels weak and is vomiting.
Very off balance giddy and nausea; does having ear infection causes stomach upset or bloatedness?
Stomach grumbling and feels hungry constantly. Also very bloated. Is this gas/constipation or ulcer?
What causes sore thoat, nausea, and upset stomach?
I' am having symptoms of gastritis. When hungry stomach is very upset. After eating I feel bloated with stomach upset. Deep breathing seems to help the symptoms.
Constant runny bowels, pinching stomach pain, feeling nausea, headache, very fatigued. Are these signs and food poisoning?
Im having severe weak spells nausea upset stomach a very strang smell and rapid heart rate?
Feeling of bloating, stomach sounds and hunger pangs and a little loose stomach, burps and uneasy feeling in stomach for 3 weeks?
Very full stomach, very unsettled intestines and diarrhea lack of appetite. Feel like i need to burp or relief gas and i cant?
Been feeling really tired and sleepy lately and always hungry. What can cause this?
Very uneasy feeling in stomach, endless hunger when started taking olanzapine. can't help eating and feeling very sick afterward.how can I manage it?
Been very nauseous, lack of appetite. Feel super bloated (stomach growls) headaches, cold sweats / chills. Not much to eat in 36/hrs still diarrhea.. ?
I have an upset stomach, an on and off headache, nausea, stuffy nose, and my whole body feels very weak and sore.


Chinese New Year – The only New Year to celebrate!
Chinese New Year is amazing, that is a fact! From the firework shows, to the street parades, to the lucky red packets and long holidays, it is probably one of the best holidays on the planet! it is celebrated throughout the world, in every major city you will celebrations going on to welcome in the Chinese New Year! From Bangkok to London I have seen people, Chinese and local, welcoming in the New Year and having a great time together. The fact that we get to experience one of the most amazing cultures on the planet during this time makes me feel very lucky and also glad that all over the world people are learning more about Chinese culture. Click here for a great video about Chinese New Year.
This may seem obvious because all over the world people gather together for most celebrations. In the Chinese culture it is very important. It is very important that they prepare the food together, the dumplings are one of the the most important things that are eaten. This is not because they taste great (they do by the way) but because a coin will be put into one of the dumplings, whoever gets the coin is then supposedly going to have a fantastic year!
During Chinese New Year you will see so many little red envelopes being handed out to children and single people. It is normal for people to hand out these envelopes. The envelopes have money inside and are seen as lucky – they are lucky for the person who receives the 'lucky money' and lucky for the person who gives it.
If want to know more about the animal that relates to you from Chinese New Year then enter your date of birth below. Do it now to find out all about yourself and what travel plans you should have in the future.


The NeriumFirm Cellulite Cream results have been astounding! The cellulite cream has been clinically proven to reduce the appearance of cellulite and dimpling and to help smooth, tighten and firm the appearance of loose skin. NeriumFirm Contour Cellulite Cream also helps restore the appearance of youthful contour, tone and texture.
If you are troubled by cellulite and skin dimpling, and you have tried many other products on the market that are supposed to help reduce the appearance of cellulite. If you have any cellulite or sagging skin issues, our Nerium Firm reviews will show that the new Nerium Firm is the best product on the market today with a 30 day money back guarantee! Nerium Firm is unlike any other products marketed for cellulite troubled skin and fat cell related issues. Nerium International is known for scientifically researching all of the ingredients that go into the Nerium products. Nerium International will only release proven products with extraordinary results. NeriumAD creams were developed to help to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. The Nerium Consumer Reviews for these products are amazing.
Nerium scientists have succeeded in developing a firming cream to treat cellulite and sagging skin. Nerium Firm is created with all natural ingredients and is free from harmful chemicals and additives. The result is a firming cream that has been proven effective for more than 90% of the people who have tried it.
What is Cellulite? Its name cellulite sounds like a medical condition. But cellulite is nothing more than normal fat beneath the skin. The fat appears bumpy because it pushes against connective tissue, causing the skin above it to pucker causing cellulite. Cellulite isn't harmful but most of us would like to get rid of it because of the way it looks.
Cellulite Creams. NeriumFirm Contouring Cellulite Cream has been clinically proven to reduce the appearance of cellulite and dimpling and to help smooth, tighten and firm the appearance of loose skin.
Applying this product will help improve the appearance of cellulite and dimpling and help smooth, tighten, and firm the appearance of loose skin.
How? NeriumFirm is the only contouring product on the market to utilize the patented NAE-8® extract. NeriumFirm is also powered by five other key ingredients chosen by experienced clinical researchers: peptide matrix, caffeine, white willow bark extract, green tea leaf extract, and forskohlii root extract. These six high-quality key ingredients work together to help your skin appear more youthful.
Other cellulite creams are said to dissolve fat and smooth the skin. But many of the other cellulite creams contain aminophylline, a prescription drug approved for treating asthma. There is no scientific evidence that these creams are effective against cellulite, and for some people, they can be harmful. Their apparent effect on cellulite may be due to narrowing blood vessels and forcing water from the skin, which could be dangerous for people with circulatory problems. Aminophylline can also cause an allergic reaction in some people.
Liposuction. This is a surgical procedure to remove fat deposits from the body. Liposuction, though, removes deep fat, not cellulite, which is just beneath the skin. The American Academy of Dermatology warns that liposuction may actually worsen the appearance of cellulite by creating more depressions in the skin.
Mesotherapy. Mesotherapy is a therapy originally developed in Europe to relieve pain of inflammatory skin conditions. It involves injecting substances such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes into the tissue just beneath the skin. Mesotherapy may break down fat and bring a slight improvement in the appearance of cellulite. But it also carries risks, which include swelling, infection, and irregular contours.
Massage and spa treatments. Massage and other spa treatments may have a temporary effect on the dimpling appearance of skin. But they do not remove cellulite. Any effect is short-lived and probably due to the removal of excess fluid.
Laser treatment. The FDA has cleared the use of a device that uses laser energy to treat cellulite. According to the manufacturer, the device can melt fat under the skin, break up the fibrous bands under the skin, and stimulate collagen production. NeriumFirm Cellulite Cream is proving to have just as good if not better results then this cellulite treatment, at a much lower cost.
Nerium Firm Reviews – How Does It Work?
Through Nerium's NBio-PL2 process, they extracted a powerful part of the nerium oleander plant. The result is their unique NAE-8 extract. This ingredient is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Nerium Firm will reduce the puffiness associated with dimpled skin. In addition, antioxidants are essential to helping skin repair damage. The age-defying extract will help your skin to appear smoother and more even in color and texture. This is not the only ingredient that is so effective in this product. It also contains forskohili extract, from the coleus forskohli plant. This plant is found in India and has been used for natural medicinal purposes for centuries. The extract dilates blood vessels and helps to smooth muscles. It works at the cellular level and has shown to benefit lipolysis, which is the transformation of fat into usable body fuel. By breaking down the fat cells associated with cellulite buildup, it helps to reduce the appearance of cellulite dimpling. In addition, it has shown to inhibit the formation of new fat cell stores. It also contains green tea extract, another antioxidant. It comes from the camellia sinensis plant and has been proven to benefit weight loss efforts. This extract reduces inflammation and swelling, both of which are indicated in the appearance of cellulite dimpling. Willow bark extract is a powerful ingredient that contains salicin, an aspirin like substance. It also helps to reduce inflammation. To help the skin absorb all of these beneficial ingredients, a small amount of caffeine has been added to Nerium Firm. The caffeine helps to stimulate the skin cells so that they readily take in all of these amazing extracts.
One of the reasons that Nerium Firm reviews are so amazing is due to what it does not contain. Nerium Firm is free from many of the harsh chemicals and fillers that so many competitors have. Nerium products do not contain sulfates, parabens, or synthetic colors. Anyone with a sensitivity to gluten need not worry because it is gluten free also. Propylene glycol and DEA were also left out of the ingredients. The reason for this is the scientists working for Nerium International wanted to create a product that would not cause damage when it was supposed to be helping others. In addition, they did not want those with sensitive skin or allergies to experience adverse reactions. If you have sagging skin or unsightly cellulite, you need to do something about it. Using low quality products will only leave you frustrated. Order Nerium Firm now, we promise you will love it! If not, there is a 30 day money back guarantee so there is NO Risk!


When the Federal Election Commission puts out a call for public comment, you might not expect many Americans to actually follow through and participate. But over the past several months, the FEC has invited the public to weigh in on the role of money in politics, and found itself flooded with more than 32,000 submissions.
The open comment period came in the wake of new FEC rules responding to the Supreme Court's McCutcheon v. FEC decision. In that case, the Court declared restrictions on the total amount an individual can donate to political campaigns unconstitutional.
Read some of the comments below and feel free to share and tweet your favorite postcards.
If you're interested in reading more people's comments, you can visit the FEC Rulemaking Comment website, but you'll need to follow these special instructions: Click on 2014 and then the first regulation open for comment — REG 2014-01 Earmarking, Affiliation, Joint Fundraising, Disclosure, and Other Issues (McCutcheon) — to see more.
Postcards designed by Alexis Pancrazi.