Abstract
This dataset gathers information about the macroinvertatebrate samples and environmental variables collected on rivers of the Ebro River Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), the second largest catchment in the Iberian Peninsula. The collection is composed of 1,776 sampling events carried out between 2005 and 2015 at more than 400 sampling sites. This dataset is part of a monitoring network set up by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, the official body entrusted with the care of the basin, to fulfill the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive. Biological indices based on the freshwater macroinvertebrate communities were used to evaluate the ecological status of the water bodies within the basin. Samples were qualitatively screened for all occurring taxa. Then, all individuals from all taxa in a quantitative subsample of each sample were counted. Biological indices were calculated to estimate water quality at each sampling site. All samples are kept at the Museum of Zoology of the University of Navarra.
Highlights
Background & SummaryFreshwater ecosystems, a mere ten-thousandth of the world’s aquatic ecosystems by surface, harbour at least 100,000 species
Within Europe, concern about the status of European waters was addressed on October 23rd, 2000 when the Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council was passed, establishing the Water Framework Directive[2]
The assessment of the ecological status of waters was entrusted to a broad range of approaches including traditional chemical analysis and much more integrative analyses based on biological indices[3]
Summary
Freshwater ecosystems, a mere ten-thousandth of the world’s aquatic ecosystems by surface, harbour at least 100,000 species. In 2005 all these networks began to be called Control of the ecological status of the surface water bodies in the Ebro Basin [Control del Estado de las Masas de Agua Superficiales, hereinafter CEMAS]4 This development, involving changing the previous monitoring network designs, addressed the necessity to fulfill requirements and new guidelines of the WFD5,6 so that the data obtained could be comparable to other networks in Europe. Macroinvertebrates constitute heterogeneous and diverse communities spanning several phyla that respond swiftly to different types of pollutants in a rather specific manner and are easy to collect and identify at least to family level They are abundant and widely distributed all over the world’s freshwater ecosystms[7]. The MZNA, an Open Access facility that discloses its collection data to the public, committed to preserve these samples as a valuable scientific asset that can be revised, verified and re-used in coming years[8]
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