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- Title
Spatially based methods to assess the ecological status of European fish assemblage types.
- Authors
MELCHER, A.; SCHMUTZ, S.; HAIDVOGL, G.; MODER, K.
- Abstract
A spatially based, river type-specific approach was used to develop an ecological assessment method for European rivers based on existing sampling data. The methodology comprised two main steps: (1) description of a river and fish assemblage typology based on minimally or slightly impacted sites and (2) analyses of impacted conditions for each type. Hierarchical cluster analysis of fish species assemblages identified 15 homogeneous groups in 11 European ecoregions. Discriminant analyses, based on abiotic characteristics, were used to predict fish types at impacted sites. The latter encompassed both regional (geographic position in Europe) and local factors (longitudinal zonation) influencing the distribution of riverine fishes. To assess ecological status, the responses of more than 400 metrics (species composition, abundance and age–length structure) to human pressures were tested for each river type separately. A maximum of 10 metrics per river type was selected using discriminant analysis. The density of intolerant species and feeding guilds had the highest capacity to predict the intensity of perturbation.
- Subjects
FISHES; RIVERS; ECOLOGICAL regions; DISCRIMINANT analysis; ENVIRONMENTAL impact analysis; APPLIED ecology; SPATIAL analysis (Statistics); ASTRONOMICAL perturbation; STATISTICAL correlation
- Publication
Fisheries Management & Ecology, 2007, Vol 14, Issue 6, p453
- ISSN
0969-997X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2400.2007.00583.x