Reproductive interaction between sympatric lampreys and salmonids was studied. The superimposition of brown trout Salmo trutta redds by spring‐spawning river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis and brook lamprey Lampetra planeri was examined in a small lowland stream of western Lithuania. A high superimposition rate of S. trutta redds by both L. fluviatilis (up to 83%) and L. planeri (up to 48%) was found, when the spawning intensity...

Large European floodplain rivers have a great diversity in habitats and fish fauna, but tend to be heavily modified. The complexity of these river systems and their multiple human impacts pose considerable challenges for assessment of their ecological status. This paper discusses: (1) the application of historical information on fish fauna and habitat availability to describe reference conditions; (2) responses of fish assembl...

A fish‐based assessment method for determining the ecological status of rivers in the southern part of the Baltic region was developed, classifying fish assemblages of near natural sites, and testing the response of a wide range of fish metrics to human pressure. However, the potential for developing a statistically robust method was limited because of insufficient data and the impact of fishery exploitation. A combination of...

The objective was to develop spatially based (type‐specific) methods to assess the ecological status of European rivers according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Some 15 000 samples from about 8000 sites were pre‐classified within a five‐tiered classification system based on hydromorphological and physico‐chemical pressures. The pre‐classification was used to identify reference conditions and to calibrate the assessment m...