Datasets from the AMOBIO research programme (2021 – 2024) in partnership between the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) and the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) entitled: « Multi-criteria analysis of the effects of flow obstacles on stream physical and biological conditions in France ».

Flow obstacles are ubiquitous and increasing in rivers around the world, fragmenting and altering freshwater habitats quality and availability yet that are essential for biological communities and human societies. This research programme aims to better understand the direct and indirect effects, at different spatial scales, of the multifaceted flow obstacle pressure (dams, weirs and bridges) on stream physical conditions (hydromorphology, hydrology, water temperature and physicochemical water quality) and on the taxonomic and functional composition of three major river communities in France (benthic diatoms and macroinvertebrates and fish). This programme also seeks to integrate the natural (structure of the dendritic river network, natural cover) and anthropic (urbanization, agriculture) complexity of watersheds.

The datasets includes two files (and their respective metadata): 1) a national dendritic network (NETWORK_AMOBIO, and its metadata METADATA_NETWORK_AMOBIO, please download the original file if you want to see all spreadsheets) in a tidy graph format (sfnetworks package) compiling thousands of sampling stations associated with environmental data and/or pressure indicators (biological samplings, water quality measurements, inventory of flow obstacles, hydrological and water temperature measurements, characterization and risk of hydromorphological alterations of watercourses) from national WFD monitoring systems (ROE, CARHYCE, SYRAH-CE, TIGRE, SCHAPI, etc.) ;

2) a table (METRICS_AMOBIO, and its metadata METADATA_METRICS_AMOBIO) providing information for each biological sampling station on taxonomic and functional variables for biological communities and metrics of pressures and/or environmental characterizations (obstacle pressure, water quality, hydrology, water temperatures, hydromorphology, land uses and natural cover) at different spatial and temporal scales

The scientific and technical report of the program describes the methods of data construction and shows the first results (Dézerald O., Bourillon B., Mirabel A., Moussay M., Kreutzenberger K., 2025).

In the face of the current erosion of biodiversity, these data represent a major development for a better understanding of the human impacts on aquatic ecosystems in the multi-stress and multi-scales context of watersheds. They also provide important perspectives on both fundamental and applied research as well as on the management and preservation of watercourses and biodiversity.