Delphine Goffaux

University of Liège | ulg

The succession of migration barriers and different turbine types during downstream migration impede Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) smolts from reaching the sea in time but is poorly studied. We investigated the isolated and cumulative impacts of 14 consecutive migration barriers (MBs) on downstream migration of 200 radio-tagged smolts over an 18....

The equipping of barriers with fishways has useful applications for testing hypotheses of fish migration and connectivity in river networks, but multiple passage performance for potamodromous fish is poorly known to date. The aim of this study was to analyse the performance of new fishways installed in the river Vesdre (Belgium). Thirty-eight barbe...

After typological pre-classification of 398 calibration sites, fish-based metric models were used to predict the impact of human activities on river quality in European Western Highlands and Western Plains ecoregions. Calibration sites were grouped into six assemblage types and according to their eomorphology; test sites were assigned to their corr...

Abstract  The objective was to develop spatially based (type-specific) methods to assess the ecological status of European rivers according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Some 15 000 samples from about 8000 sites were pre-classified within a five-tiered classification system based on hydromorphological and physico-chemical pressures. The pre-...

Abstract  Fish assemblage indicators developed throughout the world were reviewed and key differences in methodologies depending on ecoregions, basins and contrasting fish fauna summarised. Common elements of existing Indices of Integrity were identified to support the development of a European-wide fish index. These include, using reference condit...

Abstract  After typological pre-classification of 398 calibration sites, fish-based metric models were used to predict the impact of human activities on river quality in European Western Highlands and Western Plains ecoregions. Calibration sites were grouped into six assemblage types and according to their geomorphology; test sites were assigned to...

The functional ecological guild approach is the cornerstone for the development of Indices of Biotic Integrity and multi-metric indices to assess the ecological status of aquatic systems. These indices combine metrics (unit-specific measures of a functional component of the fish community known to respond to degradation) into a single measure of ec...

The need for sensitive biological measures of aquatic ecosystem integrity applicable at large spatial scales has been highlighted by the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. Using fish communities as indicators of habitat quality in rivers, we developed a multi‐metric index to test our capacity to (i) correctly model a variety...

During three consecutive years, two fishing techniques were used to sample fish assemblages in a large river (River Meuse, Belgium). In order to sample both pelagic and benthic species, electrofishing was used along the river banks while gillnet leadlines were placed on the bottom of the main channel. Electrofishing sampled more species (up to 22 s...

Development, evaluation and implementation of a standardised fish-based assessment method for the ecological status of European rivers. Project description for FAME.

Nine brown trout (27.9–42.8 cm FL, 234–995 g) from the Aisne stream (Belgian Ardenne) were tagged with surgically implanted radio transmitters, and their activity patterns were studied at 10-min intervals during twenty-six 24-h cycles from October 1995 to May 1997. The duration and intensity of activity were mainly proportional to water temperature...

This telemetry study aimed to document the mobility of Salmo trutta in the River Ourthe sub-basin (tributary of the River Meuse) during summer and autumn, and to analyse the environmental factors which trigger spawning migration or limit their extension. Nine trout (233–2217 g and 26.6–55.2 cm FL) were radio-tagged with intraperitoneal radio transm...