Bioassessment Of Freshwater Ecosystems. - 1. Introduction. - 2. Key concepts. - 3. Development of the Reference Condition Approach. - 4. Points to remember. - To The Case Studies. - 1. Sediment assessment of the near shore environment of North American Great Lakes. - 2. Fraser River (British Columbia) biomonitoring program. - 3. Spring and Autumn Assessment of Streams in the Australian Capital Territory. - 4. Points to remember. - Defining The Reference Condition. - 1. Define the objectives of the study. - 2. Determine the spatial extent time-scale and grain-size of the study. - 3. Determine the criteria for acceptable reference sites. - 4. Determine the appropriate number and locations of reference sites. - 5. Choose descriptors of the benthic invertebrate community and its environment. - 6. Design a data storage and management system. - 7. Ensure data quality. - 8. Case Studies. - 9. Points to remember. - Variation In The Reference Condition. - 1. Why characterizing reference site variation is important. - 2. How to describe variation among reference sites. - 3. Case Studie. - 4. Why it is important to model and explaine variation among reference sites. - 5. How to model variation among reference sites. - 6. Why residual variation among reference communities is important. - 7. Case studies. - 8. Points to remember. - Decision-Making. - 1. Why do we need decision rules on passing and failing test sites. - 2. How are decision rules arrived at. - 3. Sensitivity of assessments: how often do real test sites fail. - 4. Case Studies. - 5. Points to remember. - Beyond Pass And Fail. - 1. Severity of fail: Magnitude and nature of deviation from Reference Condition. - 2. Why did it fail. - 3. Scenario building: What will be the effect of rehabilitation or stress. - 4. Points to remember. - The Reference Condition Approach. - 1. Bioassessment of freshwater ecosystems using the Reference Condition Approach. - 2. Case Studies. - 3. Defining the Reference Condition. - 4. Describing and modeling variation in the Reference Condition. - 5. Decision-Making. - 6. Beyond Pass and Fail. - 7. Finish. - References. Language: English