Spatially based methods to assess the ecological status of European fish assemblage types

Melcher, Andreas; Schmutz, Stefan; Haidvogl, Gertrud; Moder, Karl

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2400.2007.00583.x

Cited by 41 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This method was first successfully applied to climatological classifications (Kalkstein et al, 1987). It has since been used for the identification of distinct fish assemblages in Europe (Melcher et al, 2007). In a flow regime context, this methodology was the main tool for classification of flow patterns used by Harris et al (2000) and Hannah et al (2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow regime patterns and their controlling factors in the Ebro basin (Spain)

Bejarano

Marchamalo

Jalón

et al. 2010

Journal of Hydrology

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SUMMARY Keywords:Flow regime Reference conditions Hydrologic alteration Flow classification Prediction Fluvial restoration Natural intra-annual flow fluctuations vary between rivers, being a determining factor for aquatic insects, fish and riparian communities which are adapted to the habitat conditions and different flows throughout the seasons. Moreover, restoration of seasonal flow patterns plays an important role in achieving good ecological status of rivers, through the preservation and/or recovery of components and processes of natural river ecosystems. In this work we: (a) classify fluvial segments in the Ebro basin (North-Eastern Spain) according to the intra-annual variability of flows under natural conditions using statistical cluster analysis of monthly mean flow data; (b) characterise the resulting flow typologies according to several ecologically important hydrological variables; (c) analyse the relationships between flow regimes of fluvial segments and physical variables from their catchments; and finally (d) predict the most probable natural flow regime using logistic models based on the most determinant physical characteristics. Fifteen natural flow typologies were described in the Ebro basin, which were characterised in terms of flow fluctuation through the year as well as timing, flow ratio and duration of the maximum and minimum flows. Precipitation, biogeography and geology of catchments showed the highest correlations with flow regimes. Basin size, mean elevation and slope were also correlated. The logistic model we developed had a prediction success of 72% in the Ebro basin. The definition of the natural hydrological conditions (to which the biological communities are tailored), even when flow data are not available, is an important support in the management of river ecosystems. It is especially suitable for setting goals in aquatic ecosystem conservation or restoration projects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow regime patterns and their controlling factors in the Ebro basin (Spain)

Bejarano

Marchamalo

Jalón

et al. 2010

Journal of Hydrology

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“…A site-specific approach was used in this study following the river continuum concept (Vanote et al, 1980) avoiding artificial classifications and their derived consequences on bioassessment. The effect of inaccurate a prioi top-down landscape F o r P e e r R e v i e w classification and even a posteriori bottom-up biological classifications used in type-specific approaches (Schmutz et al, 2007b;Melcher et al, 2007) on predictive model performance and bioassessment results are being pointed out in Hermoso et al (submitted). On the other hand good responses were found for all the sources of perturbation tested.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the ecological status in species-poor systems: A fish-based index for Mediterranean Rivers (Guadiana River, SW Spain)

Hermoso

Clavero

Blanco³

et al. 2010

Ecological Indicators

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opportunistic life strategies. A site-specific approach was followed to develop an adaptation of the multimetric concept in the Index of Community Integrity. The presence-absence of ten native freshwater fish species was modeled and used to assess the deviation of the observed and expected community composition at reference condition. These deviations were transformed into probabilities to belong to a reference site and species by species measures were then integrated in a final score. The use of presence-absence only data reduces the possible errors associated to incorrect estimations of species´ abundance and its seasonal changes. The index was sensitive to both habitat and biotic disturbances while irresponsible to natural sources of variation. To our concern, this is the first index specifically tested to be responsible to biotic perturbations, which traditionally have been forgotten pressures in Indices of Biotic Integrity.

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“…Many fish metrics decrease in response to human pressures (less fish of a trait status leading to diminished density and biomass, disappearance of species) (Pont et al, 2006;Melcher et al, 2007). In contrast, several fish metrics represent generalist and tolerant species and thus tend to increase in response to human pressures (Logez & Pont, 2011) and therefore their testing for sensitivity and intensity is in reverse direction.…”

Section: Fish Metric Reaction To Pressuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on these facts, Schmutz et al (2007) and Melcher et al (2007) developed the European fish assemblage types (EFT) as an underlying concept for a spatially based method of classification (i.e., a river type-specific approach). They applied discriminant function analysis in two steps of the approach: (1) to predict EFT membership for impacted sites and (2) to find fish metrics that discriminate between the human pressures.…”

Section: Type-specific Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the FAME project, beside this ''site specific approach'', the ''spatially based approach'' was considered, which classifies rivers into units with homogenous fish assemblages . Accordingly, studies in multiple regions in Europe by Ferreira et al (2007), Grenouillet et al (2007), Melcher et al (2007), Noble et al (2007), Schmutz et al (2007) and Virbickas & Kesminas (2007) aimed to find appropriate fish metrics that show reactions to human pressures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Divergent reaction of fish metrics to human pressures in fish assemblage types in Europe

2013

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Using a large pan-European dataset, we compared least disturbed sites to sites impacted by human pressures across broad river types to assess which aspects of bio-ecological traits of the fish assemblage are most sensitive to alterations of the river ecosystem. To control for variation across river types and large-scale environmental gradients, we began by clustering the least disturbed sites (n = 716) into four homogenous fish assemblage types (FATs) differing by four fish metrics, i.e., lithophilic, rheophilic, omnivorous, and potamodromous fish. We predicted these FATs (headwater streams, medium gradient rivers, lowland rivers, and Mediterranean streams) using environmental variables, i.e., altitude, river slope, temperature, precipitation, latitude, and longitude for impacted sites in our dataset (n = 2,389). Using tests of sensitivity and intensity, 17 fish metrics showed a clear reaction to human pressures. However, 12 metrics responded exclusively within only one of the four FATs. Hence we observed a divergent reaction of fish metrics to human pressures in, e.g., headwater versus lowland rivers. Type-specific reactions are useful in customizing impact assessment for particular river types. It is of primary importance to understand the comparative sensitivity and efficiency of fish-based indicators of water quality for detecting humaninduced degradation of river ecosystems.

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Spatially based methods to assess the ecological status of European fish assemblage types

Cited by 41 publications

References 24 publications

Flow regime patterns and their controlling factors in the Ebro basin (Spain)

Flow regime patterns and their controlling factors in the Ebro basin (Spain)

Assessing the ecological status in species-poor systems: A fish-based index for Mediterranean Rivers (Guadiana River, SW Spain)

Divergent reaction of fish metrics to human pressures in fish assemblage types in Europe

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