The Development and Testing of an Integrated assessment system for the Ecological Quality of Streams and Rivers throughout Europe using Bentic Macroinvertebrates. The aim of this project was the Development of an integrated system for Ecological Quality Assessment of Streams and Rivers throughout Europe using biotic (benthic macroinvertebrates) and abiotic factors.
The AQEM project was a pioneering project for Greece which helped setting the basis for ecological monitoring in rivers and streams by using WFD compatible methodologies. Through the AQEM project, the former Institute of Inland Waters collected macroinvertebrate data from typological diverse basins throughout the country, for the first time in Greece, by using the AQEM sampling protocol; developed a methodology for an initial biological metric (BMG) based on benthic invertebrate assemblages affected by organic and nutrient pollution; and classified river ecotypes in five biological quality classes according to the demands of the WFD.