Evaluation of Four Live-Sorting Methods for Use in Rapid Biological Assessments Using Macroinvertebrates

Rapid bioassessment (RBA) techniques for evaluating river health are now commonplace and there is much debate on the best methods that should be used. One of the important features of RBA is subsampling of large qualitative or semi-quantitative samples to reduce the costs associated with handling and identifying animals. In Australia, the Australian River Assessment System (known as “AusRivAS”) has been widely used since 1994 to monitor and assess river health. To test the efficacy of AusRivAS protocols, four live-sorting protocols, the standard Australian River Assessment Scheme (AusRivAS) and three suggested improvements, were evaluated in three habitat types and in clear and turbid rivers. The suggested improvements included using magnification during the live-sort process, separate sorting of coarse and fine fractions and increasing the amount of time or animals collected. There was no statistically significant difference between any of the trialed live-sort protocols in terms of the number of taxa collected compared to the number remaining, the community composition, the abundances of individual families collected, or the AusRivAS Observed/Expected taxa ratios. The lack of differences between the live-sort protocols suggests that technicians using the current standard AusRivAS protocols are able to effectively obtain a representative subsample of animals from the whole kick or sweep net qualitative sample. This has the advantage of cost savings because no retraining will be required, field procedures will remain uncomplicated and previous river health assessments will remain valid.     

滦河流域大型底栖动物生物完整性指数健康评价

生物完整性指数能够综合反映河流健康状况,是管理者制定科学保护恢复策略的有效评价工具。为全面了解滦河流域水生态健康状况,于2016年10—11月在滦河流域布设53个采样点,同时监测环境数据和大型底栖动物物种数据。通过构建底栖动物生物完整性指数(B-IBI)体系,对53个采样点进行生物完整性健康评价。B-IBI计算结果显示,滦河流域53个采样点中,"健康"和"亚健康"等级共有24个,"一般"等级有12个,"差"等级有10个,"极差"等级有7个。"健康"和"亚健康"的采样点多分布在承德市上游和冀东地区的部分干流和支流,而中下游大部分采样点表现为"差"和"极差"的健康状况。非参数检验结果显示,参照点B-IBI要显著高于受损点,表明所构建的B-IBI评价体系适用于在滦河流域开展河流健康评价。     

Multiscale Spatial and Small-Scale Temporal Variation in the Composition of Riverine Fish Communities

We studied the multiscale (sites, river reaches and rivers) and short-term temporal (monthly) variability in a freshwater fish assemblage. We found that small-scale spatial variation and short-term temporal variability significantly influenced fish community structure in the Macquarie and Namoi Rivers. However, larger scale spatial differences between rivers were the largest source of variation in the data. The interaction between temporal change and spatial variation in fish community structure, whilst statistically significant, was smaller than the variation between rivers. This suggests that although the fish communities within each river changed between sampling occasions, the underlying differences between rivers were maintained. In contrast, the strongest interaction between temporal and spatial effects occurred at the smallest spatial scale, at the level of individual sites. This means whilst the composition of the fish assemblage at a given site may fluctuate, the magnitude of these changes is unlikely to affect larger scale differences between reaches within rivers or between rivers. These results suggest that sampling at any time within a single season will be sufficient to show spatial differences that occur over large spatial scales, such as comparisons between rivers or between biogeographical regions.     

Use of multiple indicators to assess the environmental quality of urbanized aquatic surroundings in San Luis,Argentina

Urbanization can cause significant changes in the integrity of fluvial ecosystems, which makes it necessary to assess environmental conditions of areas where population growth rates are high. A study of the environmental quality of Chorrillos River (San Luis-Argentina) and its tributaries was carried out in order to evaluate the potential effect of an urbanization gradient. Six sites were sampled along the main course and tributaries of the river. Urbanization variables were measured and included to calculate an Urbanization Index. Physical–chemical analyses were performed in water samples to evaluate water quality through the use of a simplified index of water quality (SIWQ). Plants, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians metrics were used to assess the biological state of the studied sites. The Urbanization Index varied significantly between sites and was significantly correlated to the SIWQ. However, no significant correlations were found between SIWQ and macroinvertebrates and amphibians variables. Water quality of Chorrillos River and its tributaries is good, but it is affected by anthropic influences as reflected by the declining of SIWQ values. Although biological sampling constitutes an important tool in the assessment of water quality of rivers, in this report biological results were not conclusive.     

Assessing the health of an urban stream: a case study of Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, China

Restoration of urban streams and rivers has increased rapidly in developing countries in recent years. Estimating river health provides a new perspective on evaluating the ecological conditions of streams and rivers. The Suzhou Creek restoration project in Shanghai, China is a milestone for environmental protection. Based on the environmental and ecological data, including 17 indicators in five categories, collected from March 11 to April 20, 2007, the river health index (RHI) for Suzhou Creek was constructed and analysed to quantify the ecosystem of this urban river after a restoration project. The RHI scores of 34 sites ranged from 19.24 to 33.36, i.e. from poor to good. There were no significant RHI differences among stream orders, while differences in land use resulted in significant differences in channel flow status (B12), channel alteration (B21), channel sinuosity (B22), bank stability (B23), bank profile type (B25) and riparian vegetative zone width (B31). River restoration led to improved hydrological condition and channel physical form, while ammonia nitrogen (B44) and indicator scores of the presence of macro-invertebrate families (B51) were the lowest of any indicator. This case study supports the use of river health assessment as a supplement to water quality analysis in China.     

Development of a Standardised Approach to River Habitat Assessment in Australia

Despite the demonstrated utility of the Australian River Assessment Scheme (AUSRIVAS) to provide national-scale information on the biological condition of rivers, there is no commensurate scheme that can provide standardised information on physical habitat. Existing habitat assessment methods are not suitable for implementation on a national scale, so we present a new habitat assessment protocol that incorporates favorable elements of existing methods. Habitat Predictive Modelling forms the basis for the protocol because it can predict the occurrence of local-scale features from large-scale data, uses the reference condition concept, can be modified to incorporate a range of biologically and geomorphologically relevant variables, and employs a rapid survey approach. However, the protocol has been augmented with geomorphological variables and incorporates principles of hierarchy and geomorphological river zonation. There are four sequential components to the implementation of the protocol: reference site selection, data collection, predictive model construction and assessment of test sites using the predictive models. Once implemented, the habitat assessment protocol will provide a standardised tool for the assessment of river habitat condition at a variety of governance levels.     

Application of the probability-based Maryland Biological Stream Survey to the state’s assessment of water quality standards

The Clean Water Act presents a daunting task for states by requiring them to assess and restore all their waters. Traditional monitoring has led to two beliefs: (1) ad hoc sampling (i.e., non-random) is adequate if enough sites are sampled and (2) more intensive sampling (e.g., collecting more organisms) at each site is always better. We analyzed the 1,500 Maryland Biological Stream Survey (MBSS) random sites sampled in 2000–2004 to describe the variability of Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scores at the site, reach, and watershed scales. Average variability for fish and benthic IBI scores increased with increasing spatial scale, demonstrating that single site IBI scores are not representative at watershed scales and therefore at best 25% of a state’s stream length can be representatively sampled with non-random designs. We evaluated the effects on total taxa captured and IBI precision of sampling for twice as many benthic macroinvertebrates at 73 MBSS sites with replicate samples. When sampling costs were fixed, the precision of the IBI decreased as the number of sites had to be reduced by 15%. Only 1% more taxa were found overall when the 73 sites where combined. We concluded that (1) comprehensive assessment of a state’s waters should be done using probability-based sampling that allows the condition across all reaches to be inferred statistically and (2) additional site sampling effort should not be incorporated into state biomonitoring when it will reduce the number of sites sampled to the point where overall assessment precision is lower.     

Impact of anthropogenic activities on physico-chemical parameters of water and mineral uptake in Catla catla from river Ravi, Pakistan

The river Ravi, while passing through Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistan, gets highly polluted owning heavy loads of untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents of diverse kinds. The fish, Catla catla sampled in two different seasons from three downstream polluted sites were compared with the samples of the same fish from an upstream, a less polluted site, for their physico-chemical parameters. The data were statistically analysed to study the effect of sites, seasons and their interaction on the physico-chemical parameters of waters and mineral uptake in fish muscles. Significant differences (P?<?0.001) among the sampling sites and seasons were observed. The river appeared to be polluted as indicated by the high values of total suspended solids (909 mg/l) and sulphate (964 mg/l) in comparison to the respective values of 150 and 600 mg/l being suggested as the safer values of drinking water of the National Environmental Quality Standards. Most trace and macro elements in fish muscles were increased with the increasing pollution loads from the upstream to the downstream sites of this river. The remarkable increases in the levels of all the investigated minerals in fish muscles from the polluted sites raise concerns about the long-term health of the river Ravi ecosystem and consequently the fish and its consumer’s health. The results contradict the opinion of the local population that the riverine fish are natural, more health-promoting and precious than the pond fish. Therefore, we strongly argue for the utilization of an effect-based monitoring approach to alleviate the detrimental effects of anthropogenic activities on fish and the fish consumers’ health.     

成都市河流生态健康评价

研究以成都市域内河流为研究对象,通过采样分析得到水质、生境状况、浮游藻类、底栖动物等相关指标,利用综合指标体系法,评价成都市域内河流生态系统健康状况,并结合成都市人口、土地利用、地区生产总值等因素分析人类活动与河流生态健康的关系。结果表明:成都市河流浮游藻类以硅藻和绿藻为主,部分中下游采样点出现以蓝藻为主的情况;底栖动物以指示有机污染的颤蚓科出现的频率最高,约48%的采样点以颤蚓科为优势种;约74%的河流生态健康状况为"差"或"很差",河流生态健康状况整体呈现中上游优于下游、城市周边优于市区的特征;人口密度、人类活动用地比例与河流中氨氮呈显著正相关,人类活动会显著影响河流生态系统健康。     

Optimising the sampling effort in riparian surveys

Riparian condition is commonly measured as part of stream health monitoring programs as riparian vegetation provides an intricate linkage between the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Field surveys of a riparian zone provide comprehensive riparian attribute data but can be considerably intensive and onerous on resources and workers. Our objective was to assess the impact of reducing the sampling effort on the variation in key riparian health indicators. Subsequently, we developed a non-parametric approach to calculate an information retained (IR) statistic for comparing several constrained systematic sampling schemes to the original survey. The IR statistic is used to select a scheme that reduces the time taken to undertake riparian surveys (and thus potentially the costs) whilst maximising the IR from the original survey. Approximate bootstrap confidence intervals were calculated to improve the inferential capability of the IR statistic. The approach is demonstrated using riparian vegetation indicators collected as part of an aquatic ecosystem health monitoring program in Queensland, Australia. Of the nine alternative sampling designs considered, the sampling design that reduced the sampling intensity per site by sixfold without significantly comprising the quality of the IR, results in halving the time taken to complete a riparian survey at a site. This approach could also be applied to reducing sampling effort involved in monitoring other ecosystem health indicators, where an intensive systematic sampling scheme was initially employed.     

应用鱼类完整性指数F-IBI评价巢湖流域的主要河流健康

保护河流健康是河流生态管理的重要目标,鱼类对维护河流生态系统健康的作用重要且不可替代。依据2013年10月巢湖53个河流采样点的鱼类调查数据,采用假设参照值法构建鱼类生物完整性指数(F-IBI)的参照系统,进而评价河流健康状况。基于29个候选生物参数,通过参数与环境因子间的相关性分析、参数间的冗余分析及其分布范围分析,确定F-IBI由鱼类总物种数、鲤科鱼类物种数百分比、中下层鱼类物种数百分比、肉食性鱼类数量百分比、产粘性卵鱼类数量百分比和耐受性鱼类数量百分比等6个参数构成。利用比值法统一各参数量纲,F-IBI值即为各构成参数比值的累加,进而评价河流水生态健康的等级,其中亚健康的采样点占16.98%,健康状况一般的采样点占50.94%,健康状况较差的采样点占32.08%。此外,影响巢湖主要河流F-IBI的重要水环境变量是叶绿素a。对重点污染区域,修复水生态系统和制定科学合理的策略,是恢复巢湖流域生态健康的重要手段。     

Estimating vertebrate,benthic macroinvertebrate,and diatom taxa richness in raftable Pacific Northwest rivers for bioassessment purposes

The number of sites sampled must be considered when determining the effort necessary for adequately assessing taxa richness in an ecosystem for bioassessment purposes; however, there have been few studies concerning the number of sites necessary for bioassessment of large rivers. We evaluated the effect of sample size (i.e., number of sites) necessary to collect vertebrate (fish and aquatic amphibians), macroinvertebrate, and diatom taxa from seven large rivers in Oregon and Washington, USA during the summers of 2006–2008. We used Monte Carlo simulation to determine the number of sites needed to collect 90–95% of the taxa 75–95% of the time from 20 randomly located sites on each river. The river wetted widths varied from 27.8 to 126.0 m, mean substrate size varied from 1 to 10 cm, and mainstem distances sampled varied from 87 to 254 km. We sampled vertebrates at each site (i.e., 50 times the mean wetted channel width) by nearshore-raft electrofishing. We sampled benthic macroinvertebrates nearshore through the use of a 500-μm mesh kick net at 11 systematic stations. From each site composite sample, we identified a target of 500 macroinvertebrate individuals to the lowest possible taxon, usually genus. We sampled benthic diatoms nearshore at the same 11 stations from a 12-cm² area. At each station, we sucked diatoms from soft substrate into a 60-ml syringe or brushed them off a rock and rinsed them with river water into the same jar. We counted a minimum of 600 valves at 1,000× magnification for each site. We collected 120–211 diatom taxa, 98–128 macroinvertebrate taxa, and 14–33 vertebrate species per river. To collect 90-95% of the taxa 75-95% of the time that were collected at 20 sites, it was necessary to sample 11–16 randomly distributed sites for vertebrates, 13–17 sites for macroinvertebrates, and 16–18 sites for diatoms. We conclude that 12–16 randomly distributed sites are needed for cost-efficient sampling of vertebrate richness in the main stems of our study rivers, but 20 sites markedly underestimates the species richness of benthic macroinvertebrates and diatoms in those rivers.     

Addressing statistical and operational challenges in designing large-scale stream condition surveys

Implementing a statistically valid and practical monitoring design for large-scale stream condition monitoring and assessment programs can be difficult due to factors including the likely existence of a diversity of ecosystem types such as ephemeral streams over the sampling domain; limited resources to undertake detailed monitoring surveys and address knowledge gaps; and operational constraints on effective sampling at monitoring sites. In statistical speak, these issues translate to defining appropriate target populations and sampling units; designing appropriate spatial and temporal sample site selection methods; selection and use of appropriate indicators; and setting effect sizes with limited ecological and statistical information about the indicators of interest. We identify the statistical and operational challenges in designing large-scale stream condition surveys and discuss general approaches for addressing them. The ultimate aim in drawing attention to these challenges is to ensure operational practicality in carrying out future monitoring programs and that the resulting inferences about stream condition are statistically valid and relevant.     

Monitoring the impact of urban effluents on mineral contents of water and sediments of four sites of the river Ravi, Lahore

We assessed the impact of urban effluents on the concentrations of selected minerals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn, Mn, Ni, and Hg) in river Ravi before and after its passage through Lahore city. Water and sediment samples were collected from three lowly to highly polluted downstream sites (Shahdera (B), Sunder (C), and Balloki (D)) alongside the least polluted upstream site (Siphon (A)) during high and low river flow seasons. All the mineral concentrations increased up to site C but stabilized at site D, showing some recovery as compared to the third sampling site. The trend of mean mineral concentration was significantly higher during the low than the high flow season at all the sites. The mean Hg concentrations approached 0.14 and 0.12 mg/l at site A which increased (%) up to 107 and 25 % at site B, 1,700 and 1,317 % at site C, and 1,185 and 1,177 % at site D during low and high river flows, respectively. All mineral concentrations were much higher in the sediment than the water samples. Mean Cd (917 %), Cr (461 %), Cu (300 %), Fe (254 %), Pb (179 %), Zn (170 %), Mn (723 %), Ni (853 %), and Hg (1,699 %) concentrations were higher in riverbed sediments sampled from site C in comparison with the sample collected at site A during low flow season. The domestic and industrial discharges from Lahore city have created undesirable water qualities during the low river flow season. As majority of the mineral levels in the river Ravi were higher than the permissible and safe levels, this is of immediate concern for riverine fish consumers and the users of water for recreation and even irrigation. The use of these waters may pose health risks, and therefore, urgent intervention strategies are needed to minimize river water pollution and its impact on fish-consuming communities of this study area and beyond.     

Monitoring pollution in River Mureş, Romania, part II: metal accumulation and histopathology in fish

As a part of an exposure and effect monitoring conducted along the river Mureş, Western Romania in 2004, the health status of two indigenous fish species, sneep (Chondrostoma nasus) and European chub (Leuciscus cephalus) was investigated upstream and downstream the city of Arad. In fish, histopathology was assessed in liver and gills, and heavy metals (cadmium, copper, lead and zinc) were analyzed in liver samples. In both fish species, histopathological reactions in the gills (epithelial lifting, focal proliferation of epithelial cells of primary and secondary lamellae and resulting fusion of secondary lamellae, hyperplasia and hypertrophy of mucous cells, focal inflammation and necrosis of epithelial cells) were most severe at the two sampling sites upstream Arad city, which were shown to be polluted by copper, cadmium, faecal coliforms and streptococci in a parallel study. At these two sites, also histopathology in the liver of L. cephalus was more prominent than at the two downstream sites. In C. nasus, symptoms in the liver (focal inflammation with lymphocytic infiltrations, macrophage aggregates and single cell necrosis) were also highly pronounced at the sampling site located directly downstream the municipal sewage treatment plant of Arad. With the exception of copper accumulation in L. cephalus caught at the most upstream sampling site, in both fish species cadmium and copper accumulation were exceptionally high and did not differ significantly between the four sampling sites.     

Restoration of the Kissimmee River, Florida: Water Quality Impacts from Canal Backfilling

The planned restoration of the Kissimmee River ecocystem will backfill approximately 35 km of flood control canal (C-38) that cuts through the meandering river channel, re-establish natural flow patterns, and restore the river/floodplain ecosystem. Water quality monitoring, including nutrients, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), and mercury, was conducted during a pilot `test fill' project to determine if soil disturbance during canal backfilling would negatively impact these water quality constituents. Surface water nutrient concentrations varied little between sites. Generally, highest concentrations occurred prior to construction, with lowest concentrations occurring during and after construction. During construction, TSS concentrations increased at sites immediately upstream, downstream, and adjacent to the construction area. Increased turbidity was generally restricted to areas immediately upstream and downstream of the test plug, with maximum levels occurring during the initial construction phase. Some downstream increases in turbidity were observed; however, impacts were short-term, lasting less than 24 h. Depresssed DO levels (<2 mg/l) were observed upstream of the test plug following completion of the initial plug across C-38. Dissolved oxygen levels remained low for approximately 6 weeks, with no apparent ecological impacts. Total mercury (HgT) within canal sediment ranged from 9.2–180 ng/g and methylmercury concentrations ranged from 0.037–0.708 ng/g. Concentration of total mercury and total methylmercury (MeHgT) in the backfill material were much lower than concentrations in the canal sediment. No significant change in aqueous HgT concentrations occurred over the sampling period, although construction-induced turbidity could have temporarily caused a slightly elevated concentration immediately downstream of the construction site. Methylmercury concentrations in the water column ranged from 0.033–0.518 ng/l. No significant differences in mean MeHgT concentrations occured between sites or between sampling dates, except at one downstream site where MeHgT declined significantly over the sampling period.     

Socially evaluated impacts on a technologically transformed urban river

Urban rivers are natural elements in the urban landscape that are technologically changed to solve flood and pollution problems, and as a result of these interventions in the riverbed, they can be sources of well-being or problems for different segments of a city's population. As such, alternatives for assessment from different temporal and spatial viewpoints are necessary. Here we examine the importance of an urban river which has been technologically transformed over time, through the perception of families who live alongside it. Historical background was initially used to provide context, followed by binary logistic regression to analyze survey data (stratified sample of 710 inhabitants, significance level = 0.05). The results show that perceptions varied by the type of riverbed where each respondent lived (straightened, natural, or underground) and how long residents had lived near the river, and that the technologies used influence perceptions of impacts on the quality of life in riverside populations. The findings of this study provide possibilities for evaluating urban rivers as assets that generate diffuse effects capable of intensively impacting the quality of life of various residents in different ways, with intensities moderated by the nature of the corrective technologies used in each segment of the river, as well as priorities for conservation policies developed in each community or riverside micro-society. The conclusion is that high-impact technological solutions tended to be highly effective, and despite the ongoing deterioration of water quality and escalating risk, part of the population continues to value the river as a public natural resource and believes that solutions should come from government efforts.     

Assessment of wadeable stream resources in the driftless area ecoregion in Western Wisconsin using a probabilistic sampling design

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), with support from the U.S. EPA, conducted an assessment of wadeable streams in the Driftless Area ecoregion in western Wisconsin using a probabilistic sampling design. This ecoregion encompasses 20% of Wisconsin’s land area and contains 8,800 miles of perennial streams. Randomly-selected stream sites (n = 60) equally distributed among stream orders 1–4 were sampled. Watershed land use, riparian and in-stream habitat, water chemistry, macroinvertebrate, and fish assemblage data were collected at each true random site and an associated “modified-random” site on each stream that was accessed via a road crossing nearest to the true random site. Targeted least-disturbed reference sites (n = 22) were also sampled to develop reference conditions for various physical, chemical, and biological measures. Cumulative distribution function plots of various measures collected at the true random sites evaluated with reference condition thresholds, indicate that high proportions of the random sites (and by inference the entire Driftless Area wadeable stream population) show some level of degradation. Study results show no statistically significant differences between the true random and modified-random sample sites for any of the nine physical habitat, 11 water chemistry, seven macroinvertebrate, or eight fish metrics analyzed. In Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, 79% of wadeable stream lengths were accessible via road crossings. While further evaluation of the statistical rigor of using a modified-random sampling design is warranted, sampling randomly-selected stream sites accessed via the nearest road crossing may provide a more economical way to apply probabilistic sampling in stream monitoring programs.     

Bioassessment in A Harsh Environment: A Comparison of Macroinvertebrate Assemblages at Reference and Assessment Sites in An Australian Inland River System

The Lachlan River system of inland New South Wales, which extends into semi-arid areas, is prone to natural extremes of climate and water quality and has been almost entirely modified since European settlement in Australia. We used this system as a proving ground for the mainly qualitative bioassessment metrics for river macroinvertebrates that are used widely in Australia – the EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) index, the SIGNAL (Stream Invertebrate Grade Number Average Level) biotic index and the AUSRIVAS O/E (Australian River Assessment System Observed over Expected) index – plus a recently developed qualitative index, the observed proportion of potential taxa (OPP). We tested these metrics on their ability to discriminate between sites judged to be less disturbed by human activities (reference sites) and sites selected by a semi-random process and therefore expected to have a higher average level of human disturbance (assessment sites). All metrics except the AUSRIVAS O/E index differed significantly between the two types of sites at higher altitudes, with SIGNAL showing the greatest discrimination. Assessment at these altitudes was more effective if based on composite data from multiple mesohabitats rather than data from single mesohabitats. No metric differentiated the two types of sites in the more arid, lowland, floodplain region of the river system. We suggest that Australia relies too heavily on bioassessment concepts developed to assess water pollution in well-watered regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Effective assessment of human impacts on macroinvertebrates in the rivers of inland Australia requires a better understanding of the roles of flow regimes, including flood and drought sequences, and of microhabitat structure and invasive alien species. Quantitative approaches may also be required.     

River habitat monitoring and assessment in Germany

Whereas assessing the biological and chemical quality of water is a standard environmental procedure in many countries, the use of habitat survey methods that assess the ecomorphological quality of rivers is relatively new. In Europe, the EC Water Framework Directive requires such assessment from all EU Member States. In Germany, the first river habitat assessments were introduced in the late 1990 s. Each federal state develops its own river habitat map using the 'On-site Survey' and/or the 'Overview Survey'. The assessment describes the difference of the actual condition from a previously defined reference condition. In practice, a defined 'potential for restoration', a more realistic condition, makes restoration activities much easier and more successful. In Germany, the first River Habitat Map 2001 was published in 2002. The survey covered 33,000 km of river length, which equates to 10% of all rivers. A wide range from 'Undisturbed' (class 1) to 'Totally Disturbed' (class 7) river units exists; 77% of them are 'Clearly Disturbed' (class 4) or in worse condition. These result reflects extensive anthropogenic impact on the environment in general, but also past intense technical river 'improvements' that focused on the protection of settlements and traffic routes from flooding, better shipping conditions, the use of water power, and drainage of floodplains for agriculture and urban development. For comparability of survey results between EU Member States, a harmonization of national survey methods is in progress. A crucial point here is the definition of the reference condition for each river (near-natural conditions), since it influences the survey results.