New approach for habitat characterization based on species lists of aquatic and semiaquatic bugs

A new approach is proposed for the environmental impact assessment of fresh waters. New indices and the cenological values of aquatic and semiaquatic bug (Hemiptera) species have been obtained through multivariate analysis ba sed on the species list of 157 localities in Hungary. The 45 species involv ed in this study can be characterized by their preference for habitat types on a linear scale ranging from small, shallow waters to large, deep waters . The habitats themselves can be characterized by the added cenological val ues of the species found.