| Virginia
Journal of Science.
2003. Vol 54 (3 & 4) : 139-149 |
| Creating
a Geographical Information System for Freshwater Crabs and Fishes in
Greece Eugene G. Maurakis1,2, Walter R. T. Witschey1, Panos S. Economidis3 and Dimitra Bobori3 , 1Science Museum of Virginia, 2500 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23220, 2Biology Dept., UR, Richmond, VA 23173, 3Zoology Department, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki 54006 Greece. ABSTRACT
A geographical information system (GIS) for freshwater crabs and fishes
in Greece was created in response to the European Environmental
Agency’s (EEA) biodiversity initiative for European Union countries. A
total of 1931 collections, made with seines, dipnets, and
backpack electroshockers in 32 drainages of Greece, yielded 126 species
of fishes and crabs in 2,359 data records including species, latitude,
longitude, drainage, prefecture, and locality; 731 also include stream
order, elevation, gradient, stream width and depth, pH, temperature,
and distance to river mouth. Our GIS indicates current distributions of
species, species rich and poor areas, anomalous species distributions,
areas warranting further sampling, and cogeneric species whose
overlapping ecological distributions call for taxonomic and
phylogenetic investigation. In applied studies, the freshwater
GIS can be an integral tool for EEA’s biodiversity inventory of the
southern Balkan peninsula, an inland fisheries management plan, designs
for environmental impact studies, and conducting gap analyses for the
region.Keywords: Greece, aquatic biodiversity, geographical information system, GIS |