Issue |
Knowl. Manag. Aquat. Ecosyst.
Number 425, 2024
Development of biological and environmental indicators and indices, testing and use
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 11 | |
Number of page(s) | 10 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/kmae/2024007 | |
Published online | 04 June 2024 |
Research Paper
The biological condition of French rivers has not improved over the last seventeen years according to the national Fish-Based-Index (FBI)
1
OFB, DR Bretagne, 84 rue de Rennes, 35510 CESSON-SEVIGNE, France
2
OFB, Direction Recherche et Appui Scientifique, 2 Allée du Pr Camille Soula, 31400 TOULOUSE, France
3
OFB, DR Normandie, 3 Rue du Presbytère, 14260 Seulline, France
4
UMR CRBE (Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement), CNRS5300, IRD, INP, UPS, Université Paul Sabatier, 31062 Toulouse, France
* Corresponding author: pascal.irz@ofb.gouv.fr
Received:
28
March
2024
Accepted:
25
April
2024
We evaluate, for the first time, variations of the national Fish-Based-Index (FBI) over a seventeen-year period for 1583 sampled sites evenly distributed across the French territory. As far as we know this is one of the first studies analyzing the temporal trends of a fish-based biotic indicator for such a consistent set of records going back over almost two decades. Our results provide four important insights. First, the index is efficient in discriminating sites in good condition from sites experiencing anthropogenic disturbances. Second, according to the index, the ecological state of French riverine fish assemblages is rather poor, as around half of the assessed sites, thought to reflect the diverse conditions within the French riverine system, are significantly impaired. Third, according to the index, there is no noticeable amelioration through time of sites fish assemblage structure and function despite management efforts initiated two decades ago to comply with the EU’s 2000 Water Framework Directive. Fourth, the index might start being influenced by climate change as early signs of response to warming are happening since the last 10 yr. According to the FBI, the current efforts for improving the biological condition of riverine systems in France are not yet creating desired outcomes.
Key words: Freshwater / bioassessment / long-term monitoring / population dynamics / reference conditions
© P. Irz et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY-ND (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
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