@conference {11918,
	title = {An adaptation of a habitat modeling approach to simulate and assess differences between existing habitat suitability criteria (HSC) focusing on brown trout for Greek rivers.},
	booktitle = {10th International Congress of the Hellenic Geographical Society},
	year = {2014},
	month = {22-24 October},
	address = {Thessaloniki, Greece},
	abstract = {<div>The legislative framework in Greece regarding environmental flows is based mostly on\&nbsp;hydromorphological criteria with little respect to the biotic elements of the rivers ecosystem.\&nbsp;Nevertheless, the European Framework Directive (2000/60) outlines the importance of\&nbsp;several groups of aquatic organisms that can be used as indices and provide valuable\&nbsp;information about the water needs of the riverine ecosystem.\&nbsp;Towards this direction, a habitat modelling approach was applied in this study to simulate and\&nbsp;assess the alterations of the Weighted Usable Area (WUA) using existing habitat suitability\&nbsp;criteria (HSC) for brown trout (adults and juvenile). Brown trout was selected because it is\&nbsp;the most recreationally and economically important species in the study areas.\&nbsp;Habitat models are designed for a wide variety of planning applications where habitat ecology\&nbsp;is an important consideration in the decision process. Habitat Suitability Index curves used in\&nbsp;this study describe the instream suitability of the habitat variables most closely related to\&nbsp;stream hydraulics and channel structure (e.g., velocity, depth) for two life stages of the brown\&nbsp;trout (adults and juvenile). The Brown Trout data are used provisionally to the complete\&nbsp;absence of any local HSI development. For this preliminary application, depth and velocity</div>
<div>values were converted into their corresponding habitat suitability index values using a GIS\&nbsp;software.\&nbsp;Among the HSC examined here, there were those that were cited by Boove (1978) and\&nbsp;Raleigh et al (1986) and their development is based on literature sources or professional\&nbsp;opinion. The demonstration applied here clearly identifies some of the utility in using HSC to\&nbsp;potentially identify critical low-flow periods, where additional flow reductions may adversely\&nbsp;affect water use, recreation, and aquatic species. The proposed method should be\&nbsp;complemented with the ecological information of native fish species, and tested for\&nbsp;transferability in other regions of Greece.</div>},
	author = {Papadaki, Ch. and Ntonidis, L. and Metzafou, Ag. and Zogaris, S. and Evelpidou, N. and Argyropoulou-Papa, M. and Dimitriou, E.}
}
