ISO 8689-1, Water quality --Biological classification of rivers

摘要

Many countries use benthic macroinvertebrates in surveillance and monitoring programmes to produce biological classifications of running waters that evaluate a variety of man-made stresses. The list of benthic macro-invertebrate taxa found during a survey is normally used to calculate a biological index or score which is related to a particular stress. A classification can be produced by comparison between a reference community, which represents unstressed conditions, and the observed community. This type of classification takes into account the natural variability of biological communities.As yet there is no single classification or index scheme that covers all geographical regions. For rivers which cross national boundaries there is especially a need to have classifications which are the same or are at least comparable. A comparison exercise allows conversion to be made between the differing classification schemes, with-out the need to sample and analyse data using the different methods each time a comparison is required.