<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The ecological status of a river is influenced by many factors, of which the most important are fauna and flora; in this paper they are defined as a habitat. During the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2011, research on the hydroecological quality of a habitat was evaluated in the reference section of the Drietomica River. Drietomica is a typical representative river of the Slovak flysch area and is located in the region of the White Carpathians in the northwestern part of Slovakia. In this article the results of modeling a microhabitat by means of the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) are presented. For the one-dimensional modeling, the River Habitat Simulation System (RHABSIM) was used to analyse the interaction between a water flow, the morphology of a riverbed, and the biological components of the environment. The habitat ´s hydroecological quality was evaluated after detailed ichthyological, topographical and hydro-morphological surveys. The main step was assessing the biotic characteristics of the habitat through the suitability curves for the Brown trout (Salmo trutta m. fario). Suitability curves are a graphic representation of the main biotic and abiotic preferences of a microhabitat´s components. The suitability curves were derived for the depth, velocity, fish covers and degree of the shading. For evaluating the quality of the aquatic habitat, 19 fish covers were closely monitored and evaluated. The results of the Weighted Usable Area (WUA = f (Q)) were evaluated from a comprehensive assessment of the referenced reach of the Drietomica River.</p></abstract>

The ecological status of a river is influenced by many factors, of which the most important are fauna and flora; in this paper they are defined as a habitat. During the years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2011, research on the hydroecological quality of a habitat was evaluated in the reference section of the Drietomica River. Drietomica is a typical representative river of the Slovak flysch area and is located in the region of the White Carpathians in the northwestern part of Slovakia. In this article the results of modeling a microhabitat by means of the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) are presented. For the one-dimensional modeling, the River Habitat Simulation System (RHABSIM) was used to analyse the interaction between a water flow, the morphology of a riverbed, and the biological components of the environment. The habitat ´s hydroecological quality was evaluated after detailed ichthyological, topographical and hydro-morphological surveys. The main step was assessing the biotic characteristics of the habitat through the suitability curves for the Brown trout (Salmo trutta m. fario). Suitability curves are a graphic representation of the main biotic and abiotic preferences of a microhabitat´s components. The suitability curves were derived for the depth, velocity, fish covers and degree of the shading. For evaluating the quality of the aquatic habitat, 19 fish covers were closely monitored and evaluated. The results of the Weighted Usable Area (WUA = f (Q)) were evaluated from a comprehensive assessment of the referenced reach of the Drietomica River.

Evaulation of the Quality of an Aquatic Habitat on the Drietomica River

Department of Land and Water Resources Management,Faculty of Civil Engineering, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 11, 813 68 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Slovak Journal of Civil Engineering

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

{"article-title":"Evaulation of the Quality of an Aquatic Habitat on the Drietomica River"}

The ecological status of a river is influenced by many factors, of which the most important are fauna and flora; in this paper they are defined as a habitat....

Evaulation of the Quality of an Aquatic Habitat on the Drietomica River

Published Online: Apr 12, 2014

Page range: 43 - 48

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjce-2014-0006

Keywords
IFIM methodology, RHABSIM model, bioindication, Weight Usable Area (WUA)

© Faculty of Civil Engineering, Slovak University of Technology

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Evaulation of the Quality of an Aquatic Habitat on the Drietomica River

Published Online: Apr 12, 2014

Page range: 43 - 48

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjce-2014-0006

KeywordsIFIM methodology, RHABSIM model, bioindication, Weight Usable Area (WUA)

© Faculty of Civil Engineering, Slovak University of Technology

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords
IFIM methodology, RHABSIM model, bioindication, Weight Usable Area (WUA)