A kickoff meeting and the first field survey within the project “Climate Change and Invasive Alien Species – growing threats to biodiversity and ecosystem functionality in ancient Lake Ohrid and its watershed” and within the frame of ESENIAS were carried out in the period 08-12.05.2013 in FYR Macedonia.

The kickoff meeting was organized on the 8th of May, 2013 in Ohrid by the Hydrobiological Institute Ohrid, co-ordinator of the project. Project goals and planned activities were presented by Prof. Dr Sasho Trajanovski, and general issues related to aquatic invasive alien species, project sampling strategies, plans and schedules for the field survey, laboratory work and data analyses were discussed by the participants.

The field survey included a sampling of a total of 17 sites in 7 rivers belonging to the Lake Ohrid watershed: Crni Drim River (3 sites), Sateska River (3), Koselska River (3), Velgoshka River (2), Channel Studencista (2), Racanska River (2) and Cerava River (2). Samples for water chemistry, epilithic diatoms, macrophytes, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish were collected. Some of the samples were processed at the laboratory, identified and prepared for further analysis.

Scientists from the Hydrobiological Institute Ohrid, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia University, Bulgaria, and Institute of Ecology - University of Innsbruck, Austria, took part in the meeting and the field survey.