Expected outcomes

The expected outcomes of the project include:

maps of watercourses vulnerability to drying derived from a model based on abiotic data and confronted with the response of biota;
a method of retrospective biological indication of dry episodes based on the analysis of taxonomic and functional composition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. This method will involve metrics quantifying the frequency and extent of drying up of streams ranging from permanent to intermittent. It will be used to validate a model for maps of watercourses vulnerability to drying;
a list of indicator species and their "species traits" in the form of a database, which will possibly be implemented into other systems of ecological status assessments under the Water Framework Directive in the future;
papers in scientific journals presenting a methodological approach to modelling and assessment of watercourses vulnerability to drying, and describing the principles of bioassessment of drying up of streams using macroinvertebrates;
a utility model of a device for collecting benthic invertebrates from intermittent streams.