ASSESSING THE ECOLOGICAL STATUS OF THE MOLDOVA RIVER BY THE EUROPEAN FISH INDEX (EFI+) AND THE INDEX OF BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY (IBI)
Ferdinand Pricope(1), Ionuţ Stoica(1), Bogdan Vornicu(1), Werner Klaus Battes(1), Dorel Ureche(1)
1. „Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Marasesti Street, no. 157, Bacau, Romania e-mail: ferdinand_pricope@yahoo.com e-mail: ionut_stioica23@yahoo.com e-mail: klaus_battes@yahoo.com e-mail: durche@ub.ro
Abstract
In order to assess the general ecolological
status of river bodies, both the Index of Biological
Integrity (IBI) and the European Fish Index
(EFI+) can be successfully employed with similar
results. These indices prove that Moldova River
and its tributaries have a good ecological status
and are not affected by anthropogenic activities.
For the fish zoning of watercourses, the
calculation of the Index of Biological Integrity
seems to provide more realistic results, due to the
fact that it considers the species structure of the
inchtyocoenoses, as well as their abundance and
dominance in the sampling stations.