Environmental assessment of boreal rivers using fish data - a contribution to the Water Framework Directive

• Published in: Fisheries management and ecology Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 165 - 175
• Main Authors: VEHANEN, T, SUTELA, T, KORHONEN, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2010; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: bioassessment; biological assessment; environmental impact; environmental quality; Finnish fish index; Freshwater; freshwater fish community; index of biological integrity; Salmonidae
• ISSN: 0969-997X; 1365-2400
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2400.2009.00716.x

A fish-based assessment method was developed to estimate the ecological status of boreal rivers. Electric fishing data were collected from 902 rapids, together with information on the land use, channel modification and water chemistry. Discriminant function analysis was used to select fish variables that most correctly classified the undisturbed reference sites and human impacted sites into exact classes. The relationship between the level of human alteration and fish metrics was examined. Five metrics were selected for the index: the number of fish species, proportion of sensitive species, proportion of tolerant species, density of cyprinid individuals and the density of age-0+ salmonids. The value for each metric (between 0 and 1) was calculated according to a point estimate for classical probability. The index is used to estimate the ecological classification of rivers according to the EU Water Framework Directive.