Publication
Title
Modeling the chemical and toxic water status of the Scheldt basin (Belgium), using aquatic invertebrate assemblages and an advanced modeling method
Author
Abstract
Self-Organizing Maps have been used on monitoring sites in several Scheldt sub-basins to identify the main aquatic invertebrate assemblages and relate them to the physico-chemical and toxic water status. 12 physico-chemical variables and 2 estimates of toxic risk were available for a dataset made up of a total of 489 records. Two of the five defining clusters reflecting a relatively clean environment were composed by very well diversified functional feeding groups and sensitive taxa. The cleanest assemblage was mainly linked to the sites from the Nete sub-basin. The three other clusters were inversely described with a dominance of oligochaetes and deposit feeders as well as a bad water quality. Such an analysis can be used to support ecological status assessment of rivers and thus might be useful for decision-makers in the evaluation of chemical and toxic water status, as required by the EU Water Framework Directive. The use of assemblage-level data in a Self-Organizing Maps algorithm to evaluate the ecological status of the Scheldt basin and to support environmental decision-making.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Environmental pollution. - London, 1987, currens
Publication
London : 2010
ISSN
0269-7491 [print]
1873-6424 [online]
DOI
10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2010.07.006
Volume/pages
158 :10 (2010) , p. 3209-3218
ISI
000282260200028
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 03.09.2010
Last edited 23.08.2022
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