CNR-IRSA activities related to INHABIT

REBECCA Project (contract n.: SSP1-CT-2003-502158) "Relationships between ecological and chemical status of surface waters" is a EC Framework VI project aiming to provide new interpretations of the relationships between Chemical and Ecological Status of surface waters in order to support the implementation of the WFD. The project was carried out from December 2003 to December 2006.
REBECCA project has investigated relationships between the biological state and physical and chemical properties of surface waters, in the context of WFD implementation, in particular for what support to management intervention against ecological objectives is concerned.
In Italy, CNR-IRSA activities has also considered the investigation of the relationship between chemical state and macroinvertebrate community. In particular, on the basis of data already available from previous research projects, a descriptor allowing the calculation of a single value indicative of the level of alteration of waters chemico-physical conditions has been developed. Such descriptor, the Organic Pollution Descriptor (OPD), is calculated following the attribution of a score to different levels of concentration of a wide array of chemico-physical variables. Scores are assigned on the basis of the concentrations observed for the considered variables in reference sites. The conceptual approach adopted for the development of the OPD was also agreed for the definition of the LIMeco descriptor (level of pollution from macrodescriptors), officially used in Italy according to national decree DM 260/2010.

Some general information on the project can be found at the dedicated CEH webpage.
Also, a section of the Freshwater Biology special issue n. 55(7) (2010) includes papers based on data considered for REBECCA project

The two graphs represent examples of variability of considered metrics and descriptors within groups of river water bodies.