2026-04-17T12:48:53Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:10256/248102024-06-18T11:08:33Zcom_2072_452955com_2072_2054col_2072_452959col_2072_453080

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Aparicio, Enric author Alcaraz Cazorla, Carles author Rocaspana, Rafel author Pou i Rovira, Quim author García-Berthou, Emili author 2023-12-29 The European Fish Index EFI+ is the only fish-based multimetric index for the assessment of the ecological status of running waters that is validated and thus applicable across most countries of the European Union. Metrics of the index rely on several attributes of the species present in the fish assemblage, irrespective of their native/alien status. The abundance of alien fish, together with other anthropogenic impacts, is one of the most important threats to the conservation of native fish and ecosystem health and is also an indicator of degraded stream conditions. Therefore, to improve the performance of the EFI+ in regions with high incidence of alien species, the EFI+ was adapted to include alien fish pressure as a new metric that reflects the number of alien species as well as the proportional abundance of alien individuals. The application of the adapted index (A-EFI+) is illustrated with data from several Iberian Mediterranean basins and showed similar or stronger correlations than the original EFI+ with anthropogenic pressure (land-use variables and alterations in hydrology and river morphology) and with other regional fish indices. EFI+ has been invaluable to intercalibrate fish indices across Europe, and A-EFI+ is similar but explicitly includes alien pressure, thus helping to provide a more comprehensive assessment of ecosystem health and to communicate it to society Financial support was provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and the European Union (NextGenerationEU/PRTR) through projects PID2019-103936GB-C21, TED2021-129889B-I00 and RED2022-134338-T http://hdl.handle.net/10256/24810 Espècies introduïdes Introduced organisms Peixos d'aigua dolça -- Ecologia Freshwater fishes -- Ecology Adaptation of the European Fish Index (EFI+) to Include the Alien Fish Pressure