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The Development of a System to Assess the Ecological Quality of Streams Based on Macroinvertebrates – Design of the Sampling Programme within the AQEM Project
Author(s) -
Hering Daniel,
Buffagni Andrea,
Moog Otto,
Sandin Leonard,
Sommerhäuser Mario,
Stubauer Ilse,
Feld Christian,
Johnson Richard,
Pinto Paulo,
Skoulikidis Nikos,
Verdonschot Piet,
Zahrádková Svetlana
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international review of hydrobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 1434-2944
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.200390030
Subject(s) - water framework directive , streams , benthic zone , sampling (signal processing) , environmental science , environmental resource management , invertebrate , pollution , water quality , computer science , ecology , environmental planning , computer network , filter (signal processing) , computer vision , biology
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires river assessment systems based on benthic invertebrates. The AQEM project is developing, at a European scale, such a methodology, based on a comparison of communities of reference streams and degraded streams. The project is focussing on three main impact types: morphological degradation, organic pollution and acidification. This paper presents the outline of the AQEM project with special emphasis on: – an overview of assessment systems with benthic invertebrates presently applied in Europe – an overview of stream typology approaches in Europe – the selection process of the stream types investigated in AQEM – the criteria used to select reference sites – the design of the sampling programme – the microhabitat‐based sampling method applied in AQEM – the links and possibilities of integration between AQEM and existing assessment systems.