The state and water quality of small rivers in Belarus: the case study of the Dnieper river basin

The water quality was assessed on the basis of species diversity, the amount of sensitive macro-invertebrate community species as well as the biotic indices. In most of the cases, the water quality could be defined as “good” or “very good”. The indicated river reference sites were selected on the basis of the integrated (common) analysis of abiotic and biotic characteristics. It is clear that the most credible information on water quality could be obtained only on the basis of an approach which includes abiotic and biotic components.