Stream and river typologies – major results and conclusions from the STAR project

The EU Water Framework Directive uses abiotic variables for classifying streams and rivers into types. For rivers, the EU Water Framework Directive fixed typology i.e. ‘System A’ typology are defined by ecoregions, size based on the catchment area, catchment geology and altitude. Within any given part of the WFD typology, it is assumed that biological communities at undisturbed sites will be broadly similar and will therefore constitute a type-specific biological target and a way to stratify the spatial variability in stream and river monitoring and assessment. The data collected for the STAR project cover 13 countries and include 22 stream types. A total of 233 sites were fully sampled for all biological quality elements (fish, macrophytes, benthic macroinvertebrates, and diatoms) in the study. Analysing the STAR macroinvertebrate dataset in relation to environmental and biogeographical variables resulted in three major groups of stream types that correspond to three major landscape types in Europe: Mountains, Lowlands and Mediterranean. Similar results were found when analysing all four biological quality elements (fish, macrophytes, benthic macroinvertebrates, and diatoms) sampled in the STAR project. The studies also showed that the stream types using the WFD ‘System A’ descriptors are probably less useful at finer scales and it is suggested that a stream typology should take three main parameters as a starting point, i.e., climate (temperature), slope (current velocity) and stream size. Existing site-specific multivariate RIVPACS-type predictive models were also compared to both null models and the WFD ‘System A’ physical typology as methods of predicting macroinvertebrate reference conditions. It was concluded that the multivariate models are more effective in predicting reference conditions primarily because they make use of continuous rather than categorical predictor variables and because the multivariate RIVPACS-type models are not constrained by the use of a limited number of variables.

[1]  Richard K. Johnson,et al.  Ecoregions and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages of Swedish streams , 2000, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[2]  Robert G. Bailey,et al.  DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN WATERSHEDS AND ECOREGIONS 1 , 1997 .

[3]  P. Verdonschot,et al.  Testing the European stream typology of the Water Framework Directive for macroinvertebrates , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[4]  Piet F. M. Verdonschot,et al.  Data composition and taxonomic resolution in macroinvertebrate stream typology , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[5]  T. Reynoldson,et al.  The Reference Condition: A Comparison of Multimetric and Multivariate Approaches to Assess Water-Quality Impairment Using Benthic Macroinvertebrates , 1997, Journal of the North American Benthological Society.

[6]  Richard K. Johnson.  SPATIOTEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF TEMPERATE LAKE MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITIES: DETECTION OF IMPACT , 1998 .

[7]  J. Heino,et al.  Determinants of macroinvertebrate diversity in headwater streams: regional and local influences , 2003 .

[8]  Peter Haase,et al.  The STAR project: context, objectives and approaches , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[9]  Mike T. Furse,et al.  A preliminary classification of running‐water sites in Great Britain based on macro‐invertebrate species and the prediction of community type using environmental data , 1984 .

[10]  Piet F. M. Verdonschot,et al.  Evaluation of the use of Water Framework Directive typology descriptors, reference sites and spatial scale in macroinvertebrate stream typology , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[11]  John Davy-Bowker,et al.  A comparison of the European Water Framework Directive physical typology and RIVPACS-type models as alternative methods of establishing reference conditions for benthic macroinvertebrates , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[12]  Leonard Sandin,et al.  Overview and application of the AQEM assessment system , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[13]  Paulo Pinto,et al.  Relationships among biological elements (macrophytes, macroinvertebrates and ichthyofauna) for different core river types across Europe at two different spatial scales , 2006 .