Method for biological quality assessment of watercourses in Belgium

Pauw, Niels De; Vanhooren, G.

doi:10.1007/bf00027428

Cited by 299 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The studies which enable biotic index definition deal mostly with the macrozoobenthic community structure over a long time period to determine the dynamics of physicochemical parameters and their influence on freshwater biota (Fleituch et al, 2002;Fleituch, 2003;Buffagni et al, 2004;Munné & Prat, 2004;Artemiadou & Lazaridou, 2005;Gabriels et al, 2005). In Belgium there is the Belgian Biotic Index (De Pauw & Vanhooren, 1983), in Denmark the Saprobity Index (Pantle & Buck, 1955), in France the Global Biotic Index or IBGN (AFNOR, 1992); in Germany the Saprobity Index (Knöpp, 1954;Pantle & Buck, 1955); in Ireland the Quality Rating System (Flanagan & Toner, 1972); in Italy the Extended Biotic Index (IBE) (Ghetti, 2001); in Luxembourg the Biotic Index (Verneaux & Tuffery, 1968); in the Netherland the Quality Index (K135) (Tolkamp & Gardeniers, 1988); in Spain the modified Biological Monitoring Working Party (B.M.W.P.) (Alba -Tercedor & Sanchez -Ortega, 1988) and in Great Britain the Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) and B.M.W.P.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Karst Rivers "deserve" their own biotic index? A ten years study on macrozoobenthos in Croatia

Rađa¹,

Puljas²

2010

IJS

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Karst Rivers "deserve" their own biotic index? A ten years study on macrozoobenthos in Croatia

Rađa¹,

Puljas²

2010

IJS

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“…The site selection was based on a maximal variation in natural and anthropogenic characteristics. Biological sampling consisted of collecting macroinvertebrates using a standard handnet during 5 min kick-sampling over a river stretch of 10 m (IBN 1984), thereby exploring in a representative way the different habitats present (De Pauw and Vanhooren 1983). This approach can also be described as a multihabitat sampling (Barbour et al 1999).…”

Section: Study Area and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, a number of environmental variables and habitat characteristics were measured (Table 1). Macroinvertebrate samples were identified up to group, family or genus level as defined by De Pauw and Vanhooren (1983).…”

Section: Study Area and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, within each river basin district, all water bodies must be classified according to an ecologically relevant typology (Chave 2001). For the biotic assessment of rivers in Flanders (Belgium), the Belgian Biotic Index (BBI) (De Pauw and Vanhooren 1983;De Pauw and Vannevel 1991) and the Belgian Sediment Index (BSI) (De Pauw and Heylen 2001), which both are based on diversity and tolerance of macroinvertebrate taxa, are currently used as a standard tool. However, these indices are not yet differentiated per river type but applied in a uniform way in Flanders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of clustering techniques for the characterization of macroinvertebrate communities to support river restoration management

et al. 2006

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The European Water Framework Directive prescribes that the development of a river assessment system should be based on an ecological typology taking the biological reference conditions of each river type as a starting point. Aside from this assessment, water managers responsible for river restoration actions also need to know the steering environmental factors to meet these reference conditions for biological communities in each ecological river type. As such, an ecological typology based on biological communities is a necessity for efficient river management. In this study, different clustering techniques including the Sørensen similarity ratio, ordination analysis and self-organizing maps were applied to come to an ecological classification of a river. For this purpose, a series of sites within the Zwalm river basin (Flanders, Belgium) were monitored. These river sites were then characterized in terms of biotic (macroinvertebrates), physical-chemical and habitat variables. The cluster analysis resulted in a series of characteristic biotic communities that are found under certain environmental conditions, natural as well as human-influenced. The use of multiple clustering techniques can be of advantage to draw more straightforward and robust conclusions with regard to the ecological classification of river sites. The application of the clustering techniques on the Zwalm river basin, allowed for distinguishing five mutually isolated clusters, characterized by their natural typology and their pollution status. On the basis of this study, one may conclude that river management could benefit from the use of clustering methods for the interpretation of large quantities of data. Furthermore, the clustering results might enable the development of a cenotypology useful for efficiently steering river restoration and enabling river managers to meet a good ecological status in most of the rivers as set by the European Water Framework Directive.

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“…The objective of the sampling consists of collecting the most representative diversity of macroinvertebrates at the station examined. The sampling effort covered a 10-min sampling time, exploring all accessible aquatic habitats or microbiotopes [15]. The assessment of the water quality was based on the BBI.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Land-Use Impact on Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Zwalm River Basin (Flanders, Belgium) Using Multivariate Analysis and Geographic Information Systems

Adriaenssens

Goethals

Pauw

2002

The Scientific World JOURNAL

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Relationships between land-use and river water quality assessed by means of biological and physical-chemical variables and habitat characteristics were analysed for the Zwalm River basin in Flanders (Belgium). The research focussed on three zones within this river basin, each characterized by different land uses, and consequently, different types of pollution, mainly of diffuse origin. Environmental data have been integrated within a Geographic Information System. Possible relationships between aquatic ecosystem and land-use variables were searched for by means of multivariate analysis.

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Method for biological quality assessment of watercourses in Belgium

Abstract: A description is given of the method generally used in Belgium to assess the quality of running water. It involves the determination of a biotic index with scores between 0 and 10

Cited by 299 publications

References 11 publications

Do Karst Rivers "deserve" their own biotic index? A ten years study on macrozoobenthos in Croatia

Do Karst Rivers "deserve" their own biotic index? A ten years study on macrozoobenthos in Croatia

Application of clustering techniques for the characterization of macroinvertebrate communities to support river restoration management

Assessment of Land-Use Impact on Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Zwalm River Basin (Flanders, Belgium) Using Multivariate Analysis and Geographic Information Systems

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