A practical approach to improve the statistical performance of surface water monitoring networks.

The representativeness of aquatic ecosystem monitoring and the precision of the assessment results are of high importance when implementing the EU's Water Framework Directive that aims to secure a good status of waterbodies in Europe. However, adapting monitoring designs to answer the objectives and allocating the sampling resources effectively are seldom practiced. Here, we present a practical solution how the sampling effort could be re-allocated without decreasing the precision and confidence of status class assignment.

Approaches for integrated assessment of ecological and eutrophication status of surface waters in Nordic Countries.

We review approaches and tools currently used in Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) for integrated assessment of 'ecological status' sensu the EU Water Framework Directive as well as assessment of 'eutrophication status' in coastal and marine waters. Integration principles for combining indicators within biological quality elements (BQEs) and combining BQEs into a final-integrated assessment are discussed. Specific focus has been put on combining different types of information into indices, since several methods are currently employed.

Participatory operations model for cost-efficient monitoring and modeling of river basins--A systematic approach.

The worldwide economic downturn and the climate change in the beginning of 21st century have stressed the need for cost efficient and systematic operations model for the monitoring and management of surface waters. However, these processes are still all too fragmented and incapable to respond these challenges. For example in Finland, the estimation of the costs and benefits of planned management measures is insufficient.

Evaluation of reaching the targets of the water framework directive in the Gulf of Finland.

This paper describes the development of the EU Water Framework Directive central water quality elements from 1970 to 2010 in the Gulf of Finland, a eutrophied sub-basin of the Baltic Sea. The likelihood of accomplishing the management objectives simultaneously is assessed using Bayesian networks. The objectives of good ecological status in winter-time total nitrogen and phosphorus, summer-time chlorophyll-a and summer-time Secchi depth have not been met yet.

Assessing the roles of environmental factors in coastal fish production in the northern Baltic Sea: a Bayesian network application.

Environmental conditions play a crucial role in the distribution and abundance of fish species in any area. Much research has been attributed to the requirements and tolerance limits of commercially exploited fish species. It is rare, however, that studies have been able to address the relative importance of potentially restrictive environmental factors; extensive enough to allow for estimation of the effect of several environmental factors through the fishes' life span.