Chapter 1 - Núria BONADA

The specific objectives of the study are:
Methodological
Brief introduction and objectives
• To establish a methodology for sampling macroinvertebrate communities in
mediterranean rivers (Chapter 1).
• To evaluate the applicability of this methodology in other mediterranean regions in the
Regional scale
Local scale
world (Chapter 2).
• To study the macroinvertebrate structure in the mediterranean regions of the world
(Chapter 3).
• To establish convergences and divergences between mediterranean regions according
to its structure (Chapter 3).
• To determine the effects of temporality and habitat over the macroinvertebrate
community in mediterranean regions of the world in reference conditions (Chapter 3).
• To establish convergences and divergences between mediterranean regions according
to their responses to temporality and habitat (Chapter 3).
• To study the effect of the temporality over the habitat reduction and its influence on
macroinvertebrate communities in reference conditions (Chapter 4).
• To study how a specific habitat determines temporality or permanency of a reach and
its effects on macroinvertebrate communities in reference conditions (Chapter 5).
• To study the caddisfly communities in Spanish mediterranean rivers (Chapter 6).
• To determine the spatial and seasonal distribution patterns of caddisfly communities
and the ecological factors implied in reference and non-reference conditions (Chapter
7).
• To determine the response of caddisfly communities to pollution at different
taxonomical levels (families and species) (Chapter 8).
• To analyze the fluctuating asymmetry of some morphological traits in several larval
populations of Hydropsyche exocellata, and relate it with environmental variables
(Chapter 9).
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