Biological monitoring of running waters is a scientifically and economically valid approach for surveys and monitoring programmes to assess the water quality. Biological Monitoring of Rivers is a timely, up-to-date book that includes a good number of practical how-to-do chapters.Up-to-date assessment of biological water monitoringPractical how-to-do chapters help the practitionerProvides a broad survey of methods uses inside and outside the EUGives perspectives for future applications.

Rivers around the world are threatened by changes in land use, climate, hydrologic cycles, and biodiversity. Global changes in rivers include, but are not restricted to water flow interruptions, temperature increases, loss of hydrological connectivity, altered water residence times, changes in nutrient loads, increasing arrival of new chemicals, simplification of the physical structure of the systems, occurrence of invasive species, and biodiversity losses. All of them affect the structure and functioning of the river ecosystem, and thereby, their ecosystem services. Understanding the responses of river ecosystems and their services to global change is essential for protecting human well being in all corners of the planet. Rivers provide critical benefits by providing food from fisheries and irrigation, regulating biogeochemical balances, and enriching our aesthetic and cultural experience. Predicting responses of rivers to global change is challenged by the complexity of interactions among these man-made drivers across a mosaic of natural hydrogeomorphic and climatic settings. This book explores the broad range of determinants defining global change and their effects on river ecosystems. Authors have provided thoughtful and insightful treatments of specific topics that relate to the broader theme of global change regulation of river ecosystems.

The content is focused on benthic communities showing how they play an in important role in the river ecosystems. Provides also information on taxonomy of river-inhabiting algal groups, including phylogeny, distribution, collection, preservation and description of the most representative genera of algae in river benthic algal communities. The book also approaches the ecology of river algae not to mention the ecological factors influencing abundance, distribution and diversity of river benthic algal communities and their use as bio-indicators, providing an up-to-date information on taxonomy, ecology, methodology and uses, and a great source of research to everyone interested in freshwater algae, limnology, water quality assessment and biodiversity in river ecosystems.