FRESHWATER METADATA JOURNAL

Title

Metadata describing the European Fish Index Plus (EFI+) database

Author(s)

Rafaela Schinegger, Florian Pletterbauer, Andreas Melcher & Stefan Schmutz

Abstract

The EFI+ database was derived within the EU-project "Improvement and Spatial extension of the European Fish Index (EFI+)". EFI+, an EU FP6 research project from 2007-2009 was designed to gain new knowledge and to further develop and improve new biological assessment methods to meet needs of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The output of the project was a methodological approach to assess the ecological status of rivers in accordance with the WFD. Therefore the EFI+ project represents a direct and important contribution to the Water Framework Directive in further development and implementation of harmonised fish-based assessment tools and methodology that can be used as a standard method in EU Member States, as well as Candidate countries. The overall objective of EFI+ was to overcome existing limitations of the European Fish Index (EFI) by developing a new, more accurate and pan-European fish index. The related database covers 15 European countries and contains 14 221 fish sampling sites.

Keywords

Fish assemblages, Human pressures, Water Framework Directive, Europe, Freshwater, Rivers, European Fish Index, Metrics, Environment, Research

How to cite this article

Schinegger R., Pletterbauer F., Melcher A. & Schmutz S., 2016. Metadata describing the European Fish Index Plus (EFI+) database. Freshwater Metadata Journal 17: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.15504/fmj.2016.17