About freshwaterecology.info
The freshwaterecology.info database contains taxonomic and ecological information and is a "living document". It was first set up for the purposes of the EU funded AQEM project (www.aqem.de), which aimed at the development and testing of an integrated assessment system for the ecological quality of rivers throughout Europe using benthic macro-invertebrates. The eight project member countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden) developed a multimetric assessment system for different stream types, which is applicable through a computer software (ASTERICS assessment software, to be downloaded at www.aqem.de). As the assessment system requires ecological information on the taxa it was essential to gather information on both, taxa occurrence within the partner countries and ecological information on these taxa for a consistent and reliable database.
The steps towards the autecological database were
- Selection of experts for the individual taxagroups: acknowledged and approved national and European experts were selected for checking the taxalist regarding species validity, species nomenclature and synonymy (see Experts/Taxonomic experts).
- Selection of responsible persons for the national checklists: from each partner country one person was selected responsible for gathering the national distribution data of the species; in cases of restricted information availability, only operational taxalists were integrated into the database (see Experts/Country checklist experts).
- Compiling the database: the data were compiled into a MS Access database, using the proofed structure of the Austrian computer software ECOPROF (www.ecoprof.at).
- Compiling the autecological information: as a first base ecological classifications from the Fauna Aquatica Austriaca, the Bavarian List and other national existing lists were used; these classifications were amended by some ecological classifications for selected species by project partners and experts.
- The autecological data were number coded using a 10 point, a single category or a presence/absence assignment system (depending on the ecological parameter). For furhter information about the coding systems see Abbreviations.
In the succeeding EU funded STAR project (www.eu-star.at) that aimed for the standardisation of river classifications, the AQEM macro-invertebrate taxa and autecology database was extended with national checklists from Denmark, France, Great Britain, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia. Furthermore, additional ecological parameters were included.
The database was then further improved within the EU funded project Euro-limpacs (www.eurolimpacs.ucl.ac.uk), which dealt with the evaluation of impacts of Climate Change on European freshwater ecosystems. The focus of the database work during Euro-limpacs was to compile information on parameters, which are of relevance for assessing the impact of climate change on freshwater inhabiting organisms. These cover data on ecoregional distribution (e.g., taxa in high mountain areas may be particularly sensitive), life cycle parameters (e.g., increased water temperature may particularly effect species hatching in spring), temperature preferences or current preferences (e.g., current resistance might be important, if discharge patterns will change in future).
Steps within Euro-limpacs:
- Extension of the national checklists for macro-invertebrates: for the countries Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine specific taxagroups were added.
- Ecological parameters: parameters that might be sensitive to direct or indirect impacts of climate change were added to the database. This information was compiled for selected invertebrate groups: Trichoptera (caddisflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), Ephemeroptera (mayflies) and Chironomidae (non-biting midges).
- Fish data: country and catchment distribution of fish as well as ecological parameters orginating from the FAME (http://fame.boku.ac.at) and EFI+ (http://efi-plus.boku.ac.at) projects were added.
- Diatom data: taxa names originating from OMNIDIA, as well as ecological parameters from different sources were added.
Steps within WISER - www.wiser.eu
The majority of European lakes, rivers and coastal ecosystems are degraded. Ecosystem functions have been lost, and many aquatic species have disappeared from entire ecoregions. To achieve recent European policy targets WISER will develop tools for integrated assessment of the ecological status of European surface waters (rivers, lakes, marine ecosystems) with different biological quality elements (fish, macro-invertebrates, macropyhtes, phytoplankton). For that purpose standardised taxalists (as well as additional ecological information) will be made available through freshwaterecology.info.
In a first step macrophyte and phytobenthos data, both originating from the EU funded Rebecca project (www.rbm-toolbox.net/rebecca) were added and complemented.
In the next step a tool was developed to enable standardised taxalists throughout Europe for all the organism groups. The Taxa Entry Tool - TET is available via the menu (Taxa Entry Tool). Information about how to use the tool can be found in the help section (How to use the database/How to use the TET).
Version 4.0
In version 4.0 presented here, European fish, different macro-invertebrate taxagroups, macrophytes, diatoms and phytoplankton are included. The following table summarises the availability of data for each organism group.
| Parameter | Icon | Fish | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxalist per country | yes | |||||
| Occurrence per catchment region | yes | |||||
| Habitat preference parameters | yes (5 parameters) | |||||
| Life parameters | yes (15 parameters) | |||||
| Macro-invertebrates | ||||||
| Parameter | Icon | Trichoptera | Plecoptera | Chironomidae | Ephemeroptera | Remaining taxagroups |
| Taxalist per country | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| Occurrence per ecoregion | yes | yes | yes | yes | available for Crustacea | |
| Region preference parameters
(3 parameters) |
yes | yes | stream zonation preference | yes | stream zonation preference | |
| Habitat preference parameters
(8 parameters) |
yes | yes | current preference | yes | current preference | |
| Sabrobic preference parameters
(5 parameters) |
yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | |
| Life parameters
(20 parameters) |
yes | yes | feeding type, locomotion type | yes | feeding type, locomotion type | |
| Parameter | Icon | Macrophytes | ||||
| Taxalist | yes | |||||
| Ecological parameters | coming soon | |||||
| Parameter | Icon | Diatoms | ||||
| Taxalist | yes | |||||
| Trophic preference parameters |  |
yes (14 parameters) | ||||
| Pollution preference parameters |  |
yes (8 parameters) | ||||
| Saprobic preference parameters |  |
yes (7 parameters) | ||||
| Habitat preference parameters | yes (10 parameters) | |||||
| Life parameters |  |
yes (1 parameter) | ||||
| Parameter | Icon | Phytoplankton | ||||
| Taxalist | yes | |||||
| Ecological parameters | coming soon | |||||
Please consult Terms of use (citation) and Experts for details about usage and responsible persons.
For detailed query explanations see How to use the database.
For explanation of the systems and abbreviations used for coding the ecological information see Abbreviations.
At present, there are two levels of accesss
- without login: for the different taxagroups the taxalists (including distribution of taxa in European countries, if available) can be queried. Additionally the Taxa Entry Tool (TET) can be used.
- with login: all available ecological parameters can be queried.
If you want to become a freshwaterecology.info-member please contact Daniel Hering (daniel.hering@uni-due.de) and Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber (astrid.schmidt-kloiber@boku.ac.at) for your personal login.