Assessing Ecological Water Quality with Macroinvertebrates and Fish: A Case Study from a Small Mediterranean River

• Published in: Environmental management (New York) Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 279 - 290
• Main Authors: Cheimonopoulou, Maria Th, Bobori, Dimitra C, Theocharopoulos, Ioannis, Lazaridou, Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York New York : Springer-Verlag 01-02-2011; Springer-Verlag; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic Pollution; Assessments; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biodiversity; Biological; Biomonitoring; Case studies; Chemical degradation; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecological assessment; Ecological monitoring; Ecology; Ecosystem; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Fish; Fishes - classification; Forestry Management; Freshwater; Greece; Habitats; Headwaters; Hydrology; Impairment; Invertebrates; Invertebrates - classification; Laboratories; Land degradation; Macroinvertebrates; Nature Conservation; Ordination; Physicochemical parameters; Physicochemical properties; Principal Component Analysis; R.H.S; Riparian vegetation; River ecology; Rivers; Rivers - chemistry; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Movements; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Water Pollution, Chemical - statistics & numerical data; Water quality; WFD; Greece; Mediterranean Area; MED, Western Mediterranean; R.H.S; Fish; WFD; Invertebrates; Ecological assessment; Physicochemical parameters
• ISSN: 0364-152X; 1432-1009
• DOI: 10.1007/s00267-010-9598-8

Biological elements, such as benthic macroinvertebrates and fish, have been used in assessing the ecological quality of rivers according to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. However, the concurrent use of multiple organism groups provides a broader perspective for such evaluations, since each biological element may respond differently to certain environmental variables. In the present study, we assessed the ecological quality of a Greek river (RM4 type), during autumn 2003 and spring 2004 at 10 sites, with benthic macroinvertebrates and fish. Hydromorphological and physicochemical parameters, habitat structure, and riparian vegetation were also considered. Pollution sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa were more abundant at headwaters, which had good/excellent water quality according to the Hellenic Evaluation System (HES). The main river reaches possessed moderate water quality, while downstream sites were mainly characterised as having bad or poor water quality, dominated by pollution-tolerant macroinvertebrate taxa. Macroinvertebrates related strongly to local stressors as chemical degradation (ordination analysis CCA) and riparian quality impairment (bivariate analysis) while fish did not. Fish were absent from the severely impacted lower river reaches. Furthermore, external pathological signs were observed in fish caught at certain sites. A combined use of both macroinvertebrates and fish in biomonitoring programs is proposed for providing a safer assessment of local and regional habitat impairment.