Planktic community assembly in flowing water and the ecosystem health of rivers

Some of the modern criteria for assessing ecosystem health are compared with current understanding of ecosystem function in rivers. Owing to the predominance of catchment imports over autochthonous primary production, most rivers are naturally heterotrophic. This does not make them unhealthy but the pristine condition is that much harder to determine. The case is put for an index of ecosystem health and sustainability that takes into account the system's capacity for processing its resources, the species richness and its interdependence and its resilience to external forcing. Although these are not easily quantified, the qualitative indicators of healthy ecosystem function are easily checked. The sensitivity of organisms in suspension to fluvial flow may seem to counter the suitability of plankton as a reliable state indicator of river health. On the other hand, the rules governing the assembly of planktic communities in rivers are often strict and quantifiable: this makes them attractive candidates to act as indicators of the ecological condition of rivers.