Premium
Testing the Extended Biotic Index in Slovakia: Consistency, Advantages, and Limitations versus the Saprobic Assessment Method of Water Quality
Author(s) -
Pennelli Bruno,
Nagel KarlOtto,
Crivellaro Giuseppe,
Fabiani Claudio,
Vancova Alexandra,
Mancini Laura
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143006x98840
Subject(s) - water framework directive , comparability , european union , index (typography) , environmental science , water quality , slovak , biotic index , member states , environmental resource management , environmental protection , ecology , business , computer science , mathematics , biology , international trade , linguistics , philosophy , czech , combinatorics , world wide web
The European Union Water Framework Directive requires the achievement of environmental objectives for the ecological quality of water bodies. A comparable implementation of the Directive throughout member countries of the European Union is necessary to verify equal protection of surface waters. The Directive specifies that member states determine ecological quality by means of biological indices.
To improve comparability of water quality assessment, this research carried out an intercalibration trial between the Slovak Saprobic Index and the Italian protocol of the Extended Biotic Index, as part of a cooperative program between Italy and the Slovak Republic.
When assessing streams with no or low pollution, statistics showed similar results for both methods. In contrast, the comparison of indices was not accurate in the case of severely affected waters. Reliable conversion formulas are feasible to transform the Italian Extended Biotic Index into the Slovak Saprobic Index, and not vice versa.