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Towards the assessment of ‘ecological integrity’ in running waters of the United Kingdom

  • Conference paper
Assessing the Ecological Integrity of Running Waters

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 149))

Abstract

The development of methods to assess ecological integrity of running waters requires integrating physical and chemical parameters, as well as their effects upon biological structure, diversity and processes. River management in the UK has seen the development of a series of quality assessment methodologies with little integration between them. Methods which assess habitat structure in a biologically meaningful way offer the best approach to integrating measures of the effects of physical and chemical processes upon the river environment. Simultaneous measurement of surface flow types (‘flow biotopes’) and habitat structure (‘functional habitats’) showed clear links. These links could form the first stage in the development of a rapid, cost-effective measure of ecological integrity in rivers of the UK

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester, LEI 7RH, England, UK

    David M. Harper & Joanna L. Kemp

  2. Department of Hydrobiology, Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Vienna, Austria

    Birgit Vogel

  3. Department of Geography, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, England, UK

    Malcolm D. Newson

Authors
  1. David M. Harper
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  2. Joanna L. Kemp
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  3. Birgit Vogel
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  4. Malcolm D. Newson
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M. Jungwirth S. Muhar S. Schmutz

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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Harper, D.M., Kemp, J.L., Vogel, B., Newson, M.D. (2000). Towards the assessment of ‘ecological integrity’ in running waters of the United Kingdom. In: Jungwirth, M., Muhar, S., Schmutz, S. (eds) Assessing the Ecological Integrity of Running Waters. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 149. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4164-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4164-2_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5814-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4164-2

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