Comparative evaluation of Czech hydromorphological assessment protocols and their transferability to the ecosystem services framework: the Bečva River case study

The assessment of the hydromorphological condition of river corridors represents an established approach for evaluating the quality of fluvial systems. However, the potential to utilize existing hydromorphological assessment protocols and their indicators for the evaluation of ecosystem services remains largely unexplored. This study examines the applicability and robustness of such an indicator – transfer approach using two hydromorphological assessment protocols developed in Czechia (HEM and HYMOS), linked to the CICES 5.1 classification framework. The approach was tested across eight morphologically distinct reaches of the Bečva River, encompassing channelized, renaturalized, and restored segments. Relevant hydromorphological indicators were successfully identified and assigned to eight selected ecosystem services, including regulating, cultural, and provisioning categories. The comparison of HEM and HYMOS, including their respective indicator sets and the resulting ecosystem service assessments, showed that the HYMOS-based transfer generally yielded estimates reflecting a higher ecosystem service capacity. The results also indicate substantially higher ecosystem service capacity in renaturalized and restored reaches, a pattern that is particularly pronounced in the process-oriented HYMOS protocol. At the same time, the study highlights notable uncertainties in the assessment of cultural ecosystem services based solely on hydromorphological indicators. These services are strongly influenced by human perception, suggesting that their robust evaluation requires the integration of sociological data, including stakeholder surveys and participatory research. Overall, the findings demonstrate that hydromorphological assessment protocols can serve as a practical and conceptually consistent basis for the at least a preliminary evaluation of ecosystem service capacity associated with habitat quality, hydrological functioning, and channel-floodplain structure in river corridors.