255 Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, August 2019, Vol. 14, No. 2, p. 255 - 268; DOI:10.26471/cjees/2019/014/077 THE ASSESSMENT OF LOTIC ECOSYSTEMS DEGRADATION USING MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS AND GIS TECHNIQUES Cristiana Maria CIOCĂNEA 1 , Petru Ciprian CORPADE 2 , Diana Andreea ONOSE 1 , Gabriel Ovidiu VÂNĂU 1 , Cristian MALOȘ 3 , Milca PETROVICI 4 , Carmen GHEORGHE 5 , Silvia DEDU 6 , Nicolae MANTA 7 & Róbert Eugen SZÉP 8 1 Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies, University of Bucharest, 1 Nicolae Bălcescu Blvd., Sector 1, Bucharest, Romania, email: cristianamaria.ciocanea@g.unibuc.ro, dianaandreea.onose@g.unibuc.ro, gabriel.vanau@geo.unibuc.ro 2 Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, 5-7 Clinicilor Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, ciprian.corpade@geografie.ubbcluj.ro 3 Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, 30 Fântânele St., Cluj-Napoca, Romania, cristi.malos@gmail.com 4 West University of Timisoara, Faculty of Chemistry, Biology, Geography, 16 Pestalozzi Street, Timișoara, Romania, email: milcapetrovici@yahoo.com 5 National Institute of Economic Research, 13 Septembrie 13, Bucharest, Romania, carmen.adriana@ince.ro 6 The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 6 Piața Romană, Bucharest, Romania, email: silvia.dedu@csie.ase.ro 7 Ministry of the Environment, Department of Biodiversity, Bucharest, Romania. e-mail: nicolae.manta@mmediu.ro 8 National Environmental Guard, Unirii Boulevard 78, Bucharest, Romania Abstract: Proper assessments of degradation for lotic ecosystems are of a great importance, given that they provide essential ecosystem services and host some of the most endangered habitats. Currently, one of the most frequently used ways to assess lotic ecosystems integrity is the Water Framework Directive. It implies but important investments in material and human resources, while it is also time consuming. The implementation of a set of indicators, based on available public data, with the aim of assessing the lotic ecosystems integrity could be a good alternative, especially when focusing on large territories. The current study aims at creating a methodology to assess the degradation level of lotic ecosystems, by integrating the above-mentioned indicators into a GIS based multicriteria analysis. The proposed methodology was applied on a sector of one of the most important rivers in Romania, Mureș. The results we have achieved proved the efficacy of this method. In analyses of this kind, the accuracy of the output is directly related to the quality of input data (resolution, update and generalization level), thus a key element in our research was to process and compatibilize the available data to increase accuracy. Key words: lotic ecosystem, habitat, degradation, indicators, methodology 1. INTRODUCTION Lotic ecosystems are very sensitive and dynamic, being considered nowadays some of the most fragile and threatened habitats worldwide (MEA - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The term lotic refers to flowing water, river ecosystems being the most common lotic ecosystems. Lotic ecosystems range from small springs to large rivers. Because of intensive exploitation and human interventions on the river banks, lotic ecosystems suffered many transformations such as alteration of the flow regime, dam construction, riparian habitat desiccation, water storage and use, pollution and the introduction of invasive species (Ward & Stanford, 1995; Nilsson & Berggren, 2000; Allen & Ingram,