Ichthyological integral indices, the history of development and possible application on rivers in Serbia

Abstract

Based on a literature review, the different approaches in the water quality assessment using fish communities in freshwaters are summarized. Fish assemblage indicators, developed throughout the world, were reviewed and the main differences in methodologies, number of metrics and values are summarized. We have drawn attention to the methods used for designing a fish-based index with a particular focus on original developments in North America and its adaptations in many different regions and habitat types. The main obstacles for ecological assessment are scarce ecological information and the problem with the classification. The lack of knowledge is especially true for species assemblages in the relatively unexplored river basins of Europe, e.g. The Balkans peninsular.

Keywords

• biotic indices
• fish
• multimetric approach
• water quality assessment