SPEC 8. Assessing the Biological Quality of Fresh Waters - RIVPACS and Other Techniques

Edited by John F. Wright, David W. Sutcliffe and Mike T. Furse

Published by The Freshwater Biological Association, Ambleside, June 2000

400 pages

ISBN 978-0-900386-62-6

Price £16 softback, £40 hardback

This book presents an account of developments in predictive bioassessment systems for classifying and monitoring fresh waters, based on macroinvertebrates. It describes in considerable detail developments with the River Invertebrate Prediction and Classification System (RIVPACS) of the UK, the AUSRIVAS programme in Australia, and the BEAST in Canada. Multimetric methods from North America, bioassessment approaches in The Netherlands, Sweden and Spain, and the application of artificial intelligence techniques are all included. The book is based on an international workshop of 59 invited scientists from 23 countries that took place at Jesus College, Oxford in 1997. For all those who are professional scientists involved in aquatic bioassessment methods or the management of natural and impacted fresh waters, this book is a necessary reference text. Similarly for students wishing to learn more about the use of macroinvertebrates for assessing biological quality of fresh waters, it is an invaluable source of information.

Contents:

  Participants

  Foreword

  Editorial preface

  Some terms commonly employed by biologists working with RIVPACS

  An introduction to RIVPACS (John F. Wright)

  Evolution of statistical methods in RIVPACS (Dorian Moss)

  Uncertainty in estimates of biological quality based on RIVPACS (Ralph Clarke)

  Classification of the biological quality of rivers in England and Wales (Brian Hemsley-Flint)

  Quality assurance and RIVPACS (Robert A. Dines and John A.D. Murray-Bligh)

  The application of RIVPACS procedures in headwater streams – an extensive and important national resource (Mike T. Furse)

  The potential of RIVPACS for predicting the effects of environmental change (Patrick D. Armitage)

  Development of a national river bioassessment system (AUSRIVAS) in Australia (Peter E. Davies)

  Biological assessment of river quality: development of AUSRIVAS models and outputs (Justen C. Simpson and Richard H. Norris)

  AUSRIVAS: operator sample processing errors and temporal variability – implications for model sensitivity (Chris L. Humphrey, Andrew W. Storey and Lisa Thurtell)

  The development of the BEAST: a predictive approach for assessing sediment quality in the North American Great Lakes (Trefor B. Reynoldson, Kristin E. Day and Tim Pascoe)

  Establishing reference conditions in the Fraser River catchment, British Columbia, Canada, using the BEAST (BEnthic Assessment of SedimenT) predictive model (David M. Rosenberg, Trefor B. Reynoldson and Vincent H. Resh)

  Selection of benthic macroinvertebrate metrics for monitoring water quality of the Fraser River, British Columbia: implications for both multimetric approaches and multivariate models (Vincent H. Resh, David M. Rosenberg and Trefor B. Reynoldson)

  Running-water biomonitoring in Spain: opportunities for a predictive approach (Javier Alba-Tercedor and Ana María Pujante)

  Effects of taxonomic resolution and use of subsets of the fauna on the performance of RIVPACS-type models (Charles P. Hawkins and Richard H. Norris)

  The 1995 national survey of Swedish lakes and streams: assessment of ecological status using macroinvertebrates (Richard K. Johnson and Willem Goedkoop)

  Typology of macrofaunal assemblages applied to water and nature management: a Dutch approach (Piet F.M. Verdonschot and Rebi C. Nijboer)

  New approaches to river quality classification based upon Artificial Intelligence (William J. Walley and Valentine N. Fontama)

  The multimetric approach to bioassessment, as used in the United States of America (Michael T. Barbour and Chris O. Yoder)

  The reference condition: problems and solutions (Trefor B. Reynoldson and John F. Wright)

  Summarising, presenting and interpreting outputs from RIVPACS and AUSRIVAS (Richard H. Norris)

  Using RIVPACS as a modelling tool to predict the impacts of environmental changes (Niels De Pauw)

  Using RIVPACS for studies on conservation and biodiversity (Philip J. Boon)

  RIVPACS and alternative statistical modelling techniques: accuracy and soundness of principles (Richard K. Johnson)

  References

  Index to scientific names (taxa)

  Index to selected topics