Assessing the ecological status within European transitional waters (northeast Atlantic) intercalibrating different benthic indices ...

• Main Authors: Borja, Angel, van Hoey, Gert, Phillips, Graham, Blomqvist, Mats, Desroy, Nicholas, Heyer, Karin, Marques, Joao-Carlos, Muxika, Iñigo, Neto, Joao, Puente, Araceli, Rodríguez, J. Germán, Speybroeck, Jeroen, Subida, María Dulce, Teixeira, Heliana, van Loon, Willem, Witt, Jan
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: ASC 2010 - Theme session H 2024
• Subjects: The sea and human culture and societies; Pressures, impacts, conservation, and management; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.25125779; https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/Assessing_the_ecological_status_within_European_transitional_waters_northeast_Atlantic_intercalibrating_different_benthic_indices/25125779

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.The Water Framework Directive (WFD) has developed several methods to assess the benthic status of European marine waters. WFD implementation requires the intercalibration of such methods, in order to ensure that the status classification is consistent and comparable across countries and water body types. A working group of nine countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, and the UK) has been established to intercalibrate methods in transitional (estuaries) waters, within the Northeast Atlantic ecoregion. The following steps for intercalibration were agreed upon by this group: (i) to establish common water body types across Europe, based on salinity, tidal range, mixing conditions, intertidal area, and estuary size (six common types were identified); (ii) to compile a common dataset (9337 samples collated, from 59 estuaries and 8 countries, covering 5 out of the 6 types, and most of the ecotopes); ...