Improvement and spatial extension of the European Fish Index
Abstract
EFI+ is a research and technological development project designed to gain new knowledge and to further develop and improve new biological assessment methods to meet needs of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The output of the project will be a methodological approach to assess the ecological status of rivers in accordance with the WFD. Therefore the EFI+ project represents a direct and obligatory contribution to the Water Framework Directive in further development and implementation of harmonised fish-based assessment tools and methodology that can be used as a standard method in EU Member States, as well as Candidate countries. Between 2002 and 2004 the EC-funded FAME project aimed at development, evaluation and implementation of standardised fish-based methods to assess the ecological status of running waters in Europe (FP5, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Management. Key Action 1: Sustainable Management and Quality of Water, EVK1 -CT-2001-00094, http://fame.boku.ac.at). The main output of FAME was the European Fish Index (EFI), the first standardised fish-based assessment method applicable across a wide range of European rivers. The EFI employs a number of environmental descriptors to predict biological reference conditions and quantifies the deviation from reference conditions on a statistical basis. The EFI was developed for Western and Northern Europe and calibrated against a rough estimate of human pressure status. Although a wide range of river types was included in the development of the EFI, very large rivers were underrepresented. EFI is now used and tested in several European countries within the national monitoring programmes of the WFD. The overall objective of EFI+ is to overcome existing limitations of the EFI by developing a new, more accurate and pan-European fish index. The scientific and technological objectives are to (1) evaluate the applicability of the existing EFI and make necessary improvements to the existing EFI in Central-Eastern Europe and Mediterranean ecoregions, (2) extend the scope of the existing EFI to cover very large rivers, (3) analyse relationships between hydromorphological pressures (incl. continuity) and fish assemblages to increase the accuracy of the EFI, (4) adapt existing software to the requirements of the new EFI to allow calculation of the ecological status for running waters, (5) implement and disseminate the EFI and supporting software by integration of the project results in the CIS activities (Common Implementation Strategy) and ongoing national and international monitoring programmes such as the Joint Danube Survey and to present results in end-user workshops and an international conference.
keywords European Fish Index Ecological Assessment Water Framework Directive
Publikationen
D. 3.1 Report in hydromorphological pressures, D. 3.2 Global pressure index
Autoren: Schinegger, R; Melcher, A; Trautwein, C; Schmutz, S; Jahr: 2008
Forschungsbericht (extern. Auftraggeber)
Taxa and guild classification of European Fish Species for use in Fish-Based Assessments
Autoren: Melcher A., et al. Jahr: 2009
Conference & Workshop proceedings, paper, abstract
Detecting patterns and relationships of human pressures in European rivers
Autoren: Schinegger, R; Melcher A; Trautwein C; Schmutz, S; Jahr: 2009
Conference & Workshop proceedings, paper, abstract
Project staff
Stefan Schmutz
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Stefan Schmutz
stefan.schmutz@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-81202
Project Leader
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
Gertrud Haidvogl
Priv.-Doz. Mag. Dr.phil. Gertrud Haidvogl
gertrud.haidvogl@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-81204
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
Andreas Melcher
Priv.-Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Andreas Melcher
andreas.melcher@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-93411
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
Rafaela Schinegger
Ass.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Rafaela Schinegger
rafaela.schinegger@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-85334
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
Michael Straif
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Michael Straif
michael.straif@boku.ac.at
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
Herwig Waidbacher
Ao.Univ.Prof.i.R. Dr.phil. Herwig Waidbacher
herwig.waidbacher@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-81222
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
Christian Wiesner
Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Christian Wiesner
christian.wiesner@boku.ac.at
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
Andreas Zitek
Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Andreas Zitek MSc.
andreas.zitek@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-31212
Project Staff
01.01.2007 - 30.04.2009
BOKU partners
External partners
Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute
Dr. Teppo Vehanen
partner
Cemagref Agricultural and environmental engineering research, France (CEMA) - Le Tholonet
Dr. Didier Pont
sub-coordinator
Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Germany (IGB)
Dr. Christian Wolter
partner
Hortobágyi Halgazdaság Rt, Hungary
Dr. Bela Halasi-Kovacs
partner
EC Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, European Commission
Dr. Wouter van de Bund
partner
Aquaprogram s.r.l., Italy
Dr. Giuseppe Maio
partner
Stanislaw Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn, Poland
Dr. Wies³aw Wiœniewolski
partner
Technical University of Lisbon Instituto Superior de Agronomia Forest Department, Portugal
Dr. Teresa Ferreira
partner
University of BacaVasile Alecsandri University of Bacăuu, Romania
Dr. Klaus Battes
partner
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
Dr. Diego Garcia de Jalon
partner
Institute of Freshwater Research Swedish Board of Fisheries, Sweden
Dr. Jonas Pettersson
partner
Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Switzerland
Dr. Armin Peter
partner
University of Hull
Dr. Ian Cowx
partner