Biological monitoring and assessment of rivers as a basis for identifying and prioritising river management options

The output of monitoring programs such as the National Aquatic Ecosystem Biomonitoring Program must be used in the management of aquatic ecosystems. To achieve this, collected data must, through a systematic framework, be linked to measurable management objectives. This paper demonstrates how the results obtained with biological indices and system-specific knowledge, are combined to derive semi-quantitative assessments of ecosystem condition. These assessments provide the basisfor responding to the results of a river monitoring program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]