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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
Published on: July 24, 2016
Theoretical and practical aspects on benthic quality assessment according to the EU-Water Framework
Kjell Leonardsson1, Mats Blomqvist, Rutger Rosenberg
1Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden. Kjell.Leonardsson@vfm.slu.se
Abstract:
A previously presented objective method to calculate each species sensitivity to disturbance is here slightly modified and implemented in the Benthic Quality Index (BQI) for marine benthic invertebrates. A framework for assessment of water bodies based on multi-site BQI-values is also presented, where a certain variation of BQI-values is allowed to cover the heterogeneity within each water body. The 20th percentile, using bootstrapping, from the available sites' BQI-values is compared with the status boundaries for quality assessment. The reliability of the assessment depends on the background information available for the boundary setting as well as the number of sampling sites included in the assessment. Agreement between time series of quality assessments in areas with known changes in anthropogenic disturbances is encouraging. Problems associated with water body assessment based on few or no samples, as well as multiple sampling occasions during the 6-yr WFD cycle are discussed.
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