The Floodplain Index - a new approach for assessing the ecological status of river/floodplain-systems according to the EU Water Framework Directive.

During the last two decades theoretical and applied limnological research increasingly focused on the investigation of floodplain rivers (Amoros & Roux 1988, Junk et al. 1989, Schiemer 1999, Ward et al. 1999, Findlay et al. 2002). Ecological key prerequisites of such systems are natural fluvial dynamics leading to flood-controlled disturbances, thereby