CNR-IRSA activities related to INHABIT

The need for comparing quality assessments through biotic indices requires the use of standardized procedures for   sampling the targeted biological community. Most of the classification methods and related sampling procedures have been developed to be used in wadable rivers, an show, thus, poor performances in the lowland reach of large rivers and in artificial canals. Causes of this poor performances lay in the lack of representativeness of the sampling due to some peculiar features of these water bodies, such as: excessive water depth, microhabitat dispersion over a wide area, strong differences in the habitat composition of the two banks, etc. For an adequate analysis of river macroinvertebrates, alternative sampling techniques are thus needed. At the moment, Italian national legislation for operational monitoring (DM 260/2010) in large and/or not easily accessible rivers, provides for the use of ‘plate artificial substrates’ (SA). Although not free from limitations, related mostly to the localized placement and to the selectiveness of sampling, this technique allows the collection of quantitative data assuring a good comparability among different sites. The sampling technique is described in details in Buffagni et al., 2007, part of the Notiziario IRSA – Mar 2007 (in Italian: ‘Macroinvertebrati acquatici e Direttiva 2000/60/EC (WFD) - Parte D. Metodo di campionamento per i fiumi non guadabili’ Pag.: 69-93), translated in its main points in the present section.

• Artificial substrates
  
• Positioning and season