title: New tools for the hydromorphological assessment and monitoring of European streams.
abstract: Hydromorphological stream assessment has significantly expanded over the last years, but a need has emerged from recent reviews for more comprehensive, process-based methods that consider the character and dynamics of the river with greater accuracy. With this as a focus, a series of hydromorphological tools have been developed and/or further extended in Europe within the context of the REFORM (REstoring rivers FOR effective catchment Management) project. The aim of this paper is to present the set of REFORM hydromorphological assessment methods and, based on some examples of their application, to illustrate and discuss their synergic use, specific features, limitations and strengths. This assessment and monitoring includes three tools: the Morphological Quality Index (MQI), the Morphological Quality Index for monitoring (MQIm), and the Geomorphic Units survey and classification System (GUS). These tools constitute the assessment phase of an overall multi-scale, process-based hydromorphological framework developed in REFORM. The MQI is aimed at an assessment, classification and monitoring of the current morphological state; the MQIm aims at monitoring the tendency of morphological conditions (enhancement or deterioration); the GUS provides a characterization, classification and monitoring of geomorphic units. A series of examples are used to illustrate the potential range of application, including: (i) an assessment of morphological conditions; (ii) an assessment of the morphological effects of restoration projects; (iii) an evaluation of the geomorphic impacts of interventions for risk mitigation; and (iv) an integrated use of MQI and GUS to assess and characterise morphological conditions. Finally, some of the main features, strengths and peculiarities of the three hydromorphological tools are discussed with the support of examples of their application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Via S.Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy. Electronic address: massimo.rinaldi@unifi.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Via S.Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Belletti
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Via Vitaliano Brancati 48, 00144 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bussettini
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Comiti
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Golfieri
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Via Vitaliano Brancati 48, 00144 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lastoria
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marchese
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence, Via S.Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Surian
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D045483:Rivers
keywords: Hydromorphology; River management; River restoration; Water Framework Directive