The Floodplain Index - a new approach for assessing the ecological status of river/floodplain-systems according to the EU Water Framework Directive.

Chovanec, Andreas; Waringer, Johann; Straif, Michael; Graf, Wolfram; Reckendorfer, Walter; Waringer-Löschenkohl, Andrea; Waidbacher, Herwig; Schultz, Henry

doi:10.1127/lr/15/2003/169

Cited by 31 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…However, species and ecotopes incorporated in the model were derived from both natural and modified river-floodplain ecosystems (see Materials and methods). Moreover, the results are largely in accordance with those of studies dealing with various aquatic taxonomic groups of river-floodplain ecosystems along the lower Rhine and Meuse (Van den Brink, 1994; Van den Brink et al, 1996), with total species richness in the Danube (Ward & Tockner, 2001), with a weighted biodiversity score in the Danube (Chovanec et al, 2005) and with fish biodiversity in general (Aarts et al, 2004). This is a strong indication that, for river-floodplain ecosystems, (i) our results may have generic meaning and (ii) the riverine species assemblage as a whole can benefit from measures focussing on creating suitable conditions for target species only.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Junk et al, 1989). Empirical evidence supports this concept and shows that different taxonomic groups utilize the gradient differently (Van den Brink, 1994;Van den Brink et al, 1996;Ward & Tockner, 2001;Chovanec et al, 2005). However, to what extent the relation between hydrodynamics and biodiversity is also valid for target species is largely unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

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The Importance of Hydrodynamics for Protected and Endangered Biodiversity of Lowland Rivers

et al. 2006

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This paper examines the relationship between protected and endangered riverine species (target species) and hydrodynamics in river-floodplain ecosystems, combining ecological and policy-legal aspects of biodiversity conservation in river management. The importance of different hydrodynamic conditions along a lateral gradient was quantified for various taxonomic groups. Our results show that (i) target species require ecotopes along the entire hydrodynamic gradient; (ii) different parts of the hydrodynamic gradient are important to different species, belonging to different taxonomic groups; (iii) in particular low-dynamic parts are important for many species and (iv) species differ in their specificity for hydrodynamic conditions. Many species of higher plants, fish and butterflies have a narrow range for hydrodynamics and many species of birds and mammals use ecotopes along the entire gradient. Even when focussing only on target species, the entire natural hydrodynamic gradient is important. This means that the riverine species assemblage as a whole can benefit from measures focussing on target species only. River reconstruction and management should aim at re-establishing the entire hydrodynamic gradient, increasing the spatial heterogeneity of hydrodynamic conditions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The Importance of Hydrodynamics for Protected and Endangered Biodiversity of Lowland Rivers

et al. 2006

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“…CHOVANEC et al (2005) propose a new index very similar to the IBI that also makes use of organisms in the aquatic terrestrial transition zone (dragonflies, amphibians, molluscs).…”

Section: Multimetrics (Indices Of Biological Integrity Ibi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Indicator Systems in Floodplains – a Review

Dziock¹,

Henle

Foeckler³

et al. 2006

International Review of Hydrobiology

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Based on a literature review, the different approaches to biological indicator systems in floodplains are summarised. Four general categories of bioindication are defined and proposed here: 1. Classification indicators, 2.1 Environmental indicators, 2.2 Biodiversity indicators, 3. Valuation indicators. Furthermore, existing approaches in floodplains are classified according to the four categories. Relevant and widely used approaches in floodplains are explained in more detail. The results of the RIVA project are put into the context of these indication approaches. It is concluded that especially functional assessment approaches using biological traits of the species can be seen as very promising and deserve more attention by conservation biologists and floodplain ecologists. IntroductionThe influence of organic pollution on aquatic organisms is so obvious that these observations have made quite a significant contribution to the development of the idea of bioindication. Aristotle is said to have been the first scientist to point out the connection between organic pollution and changes to aquatic biocoenoses (THIENEMANN, 1959). Then the concept of bioindication arose with work on the saprobic index by KOLKWITZ and MARSSON at the beginning of the 20 th century (CAIRNS and PRATT, 1993). Aquatic organisms have not only been important for devising indicator systems for organic pollution but also for the development of numerous other indicator systems for the condition of rivers, lakes, and canals and for evaluating human impacts on aquatic systems (KNOBEN et al., 1995; STATZ-NER et al., 2001). Today indication is widely used to describe and evaluate environmental conditions and to assess the success of environmental policies with easily recordable indicators.Indicators for complex ecosystems such as floodplains, which are determined by parameters and processes that are difficult to measure directly (e.g. the frequency and duration of inundation), are of special importance (e.g. FOECKLER and BOHLE, 1991;SCHUBERT, 1991;MCGEOCH, 1998;STATZNER et al., 2001; DZIOCK et al., in press

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“…In addition, according to Chovanec et al (2005), particular efforts have to be made to develop appropriate indices for monitoring inland water. Floodplain conservation and restoration management can be divided into two tasks corresponding to (i) catchment management covering a fairly large area around freshwater bodies (Saunders et al 2002) and (ii) selective management resulting from site prioritisation (Bergerot et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the conservation value of waterbodies: the example of the Loire floodplain (France)

2011

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International audienceIn recent decades, two of the main management tools used to stem biodiversity erosion have been biodiversity monitoring and the conservation of natural areas. However, socio-economic pressure means that it is not usually possible to preserve the entire landscape, and so the rational prioritisation of sites has become a crucial issue. In this context, and because floodplains are one of the most threatened ecosystems, we propose a statistical strategy for evaluating conservation value, and used it to prioritise 46 waterbodies in the Loire floodplain (France). We began by determining a synthetic conservation index of fish communities (Q) for each waterbody. This synthetic index includes a conservation status index, an origin index, a rarity index and a richness index. We divided the waterbodies into 6 clusters with distinct structures of the basic indices. One of these clusters, with high Q median value, indicated that 4 waterbodies are important for fish biodiversity conservation. Conversely, two clusters with low Q median values included 11 waterbodies where restoration is called for. The results picked out high connectivity levels and low abundance of aquatic vegetation as the two main environmental characteristics of waterbodies with high conservation value. In addition, assessing the biodiversity and conservation value of territories using our multi-index approach plus an a posteriori hierarchical classification methodology reveals two major interests: (i) a possible geographical extension and (ii) a multi-taxa adaptation

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The Floodplain Index - a new approach for assessing the ecological status of river/floodplain-systems according to the EU Water Framework Directive.

Cited by 31 publications

References 6 publications

The Importance of Hydrodynamics for Protected and Endangered Biodiversity of Lowland Rivers

The Importance of Hydrodynamics for Protected and Endangered Biodiversity of Lowland Rivers

Biological Indicator Systems in Floodplains – a Review

Assessing the conservation value of waterbodies: the example of the Loire floodplain (France)

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