Joy and Death (2002): Predictive modelling of freshwater fish as a biomonitoring tool in New Zealand.

Joy, M. K.; Death, R. G. 2002. Predictive modelling of freshwater fish as a biomonitoring tool in New Zealand. Freshwater Biology 47: 2261–2275.

The paper describes the first application of a regional predictive model using freshwater fish for bioassessment in New Zealand. Fish assemblages were surveyed at 200 reference sites in the Manawatu–Wanganui region. These “reference sites” represent the best available conditions covering the full range of stream types in the region. They were used to predict the fish assemblages to be expected in the absence of impacts using multivariate analysis based on environmental variables. Test site fish assemblages were compared with expected assemblages using weighted probabilities from reference sites using an observed over ex-pected (O/E) ratio.