caa a22 4500 445893583 CHVBK 20180317145624.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110201xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10750-010-0541-z doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10750-010-0541-z A tiered framework for assessing groundwater ecosystem health [Elektronische Daten] [K. Korbel, G. Hose] The notion of ecosystem health has been widely adopted in environmental policy, particularly in the management of river systems. Despite this, even a notional understanding of ecosystem health and its assessment in connected aquifer ecosystems remains elusive. In this article, we propose a definition and provide a tiered framework for the assessment of ecosystem health in groundwater. From the literature we identify general attributes of a healthy groundwater ecosystem and from these develop primary (Tier 1) indicators of health. Where Tier 1 benchmarks are exceeded or more detailed assessment is required, we discuss a range of indicators (Tier 2) that may together generate a multimetric index of groundwater health. Our case study using samples from an alluvial aquifer in north-western New South Wales, Australia, demonstrates the utility of both tiers of the framework, and the ability of the approach to separate disturbed and undisturbed sites. The process of multimetric development is simple and our Tier 2 benchmarks determined from limited data. Nevertheless, our framework will be applicable and readily adaptable to site-specific contexts. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2010 Groundwater nationallicence Ecosystem health nationallicence Indicators nationallicence Aquifers nationallicence Stygofauna nationallicence Groundwater ecosystems nationallicence Korbel K. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, PO Box 123, 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut Hose G. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, 2109, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 661/1(2011-02-01), 329-349 0018-8158 661:1<329 2011 661 10750 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0541-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0541-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Korbel K. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, PO Box 123, 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hose G. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, 2109, Sydney, NSW, Australia aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Hydrobiologia Springer Netherlands 661/1(2011-02-01), 329-349 0018-8158 661:1<329 2011 661 10750 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer