Reducing spatial variation in environmental assessment of marine benthic fauna.

The Benthic Quality Index, BQI, is widely used for benthic quality assessment. Here, we investigated if spatial variation in the BQI can be reduced by accounting for the environmental factors instead of having different boundaries for different salinity regimes between status classes in the EU Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive. For this purpose we tested salinity, sediment structure, and depth in a regression model to test their contribution to variations in BQI.

Calculation of species sensitivity values and their precision in marine benthic faunal quality indices.

A challenging aspect of benthic quality indices used for assessing the marine environment has been to compile reliable measures of the species' sensitivity to disturbances. Sensitivity values and their uncertainties can be calculated, but a problem to cope with is that the results may depend on the actual proportion of samples from disturbed and undisturbed environments. Here we calculated sensitivity values for each species along an artificial disturbance gradient created by bootstrapping varying numbers of samples from disturbed and undisturbed environments.

Assessing coastal benthic macrofauna community condition using best professional judgement--developing consensus across North America and Europe.

Benthic indices are typically developed independently by habitat, making their incorporation into large geographic scale assessments potentially problematic because of scaling inequities. A potential solution is to establish common scaling using expert best professional judgment (BPJ). To test if experts from different geographies agree on condition assessment, sixteen experts from four regions in USA and Europe were provided species-abundance data for twelve sites per region.

Environmental quality of Korean coasts as determined by modified Shannon-Wiener evenness proportion.

The coast of the Korean peninsula experiences a range of human impacts, including pollution, shipping, reclamation, and aquaculture, that have motivated numerous local studies of macrobenthic organisms. In this paper, 1,492 subtidal stations were compiled from 23 studies (areas) to evaluate environmental quality on a broader scale. A common index in biomonitoring, Shannon-Wiener evenness proportion (SEP), could not incorporate azoic or single-species samples.

Species-specific traits rather than resource partitioning mediate diversity effects on resource use.

Background: The link between biodiversity and ecosystem processes has firmly been established, but the mechanisms underpinning this relationship are poorly documented. Most studies have focused on terrestrial plant systems where resource use can be difficult to quantify as species rely on a limited number of common resources. Investigating resource use at the bulk level may not always be of sufficient resolution to detect subtle differences in resource use, as species-specific nutritional niches at the biochemical level may also moderate diversity effects on resource use.

Hypoxia-related processes in the Baltic Sea.

Hypoxia, a growing worldwide problem, has been intermittently present in the modern Baltic Sea since its formation ca. 8000 cal. yr BP.

Assessment of marine benthic quality change in gradients of disturbance: comparison of different Scandinavian multi-metric indices.

Three multi-metric benthic macrofauna indices were used to assess marine benthic ecological quality status (EcoQS) according to the European Water Framework Directive, in seven pollution gradients mainly, western Scandinavia. The impacts included organic load, hypoxia, metals, urban effluents and physical disturbance. The indices responded in a similar threshold fashion, irrespective of impact factor identity.

Theoretical and practical aspects on benthic quality assessment according to the EU-Water Framework Directive--examples from Swedish waters.

A previously presented objective method to calculate each species sensitivity to disturbance is here slightly modified and implemented in the Benthic Quality Index (BQI) for marine benthic invertebrates. A framework for assessment of water bodies based on multi-site BQI-values is also presented, where a certain variation of BQI-values is allowed to cover the heterogeneity within each water body. The 20th percentile, using bootstrapping, from the available sites' BQI-values is compared with the status boundaries for quality assessment.

Temporal and spatial changes in marine benthic habitats in relation to the EU Water Framework Directive: the use of sediment profile imagery.

In 2002 to 2006, sediment profile imagery (SPI) was used to study the environmental impact of eutrophication-induced irregular and seasonal hypoxia on marine benthic habitats in six regions in the Skagerrak and Kattegat (West Sweden). The benthic habitat quality (BHQ) was assessed by parameterisation of biogenic structures observed by the SPI technique, and benthic quality status was related to the EU Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD). The temporal changes were analysed by a 5-factor nested ANOVA and significant temporal differences were recorded within three of the regions.

Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine ecosystems.

Dead zones in the coastal oceans have spread exponentially since the 1960s and have serious consequences for ecosystem functioning. The formation of dead zones has been exacerbated by the increase in primary production and consequent worldwide coastal eutrophication fueled by riverine runoff of fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels. Enhanced primary production results in an accumulation of particulate organic matter, which encourages microbial activity and the consumption of dissolved oxygen in bottom waters.

Bioturbation-driven release of organic contaminants from Baltic Sea sediments mediated by the invading polychaete Marenzelleria neglecta.

Baltic Sea sediments are among the world's most polluted regarding eutrophication and contamination. Eutrophication-induced hypoxia has caused depletion of bioturbating macrofauna in vast areas, producing laminated sediments. We investigated if reoxygenation and colonization by the invading deep-burrowing polychaete Marenzelleria neglecta may cause an augmented contaminant release from Baltic Sea sediments.

The impact of benthic macrofauna for nutrient fluxes from Baltic Sea sediments.

This article focuses on the ecological role of benthic macrofauna on nutrient dynamics and benthic-pelagic coupling in the Baltic Sea with relation to eutrophication. Generally, benthic macrofaunal activities have large effects on sediment biogeochemistry and often with stimulatory effects on processes that counteract eutrophication, i.e.

Characterization of the ecological quality of the coastal Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean). A comparative approach based on three biotic indices.

The ecological quality of the Gulf of Lions coast was assessed using three biotic indices (H', AMBI and BQI). The three indices correlated positively. The positive correlation between AMBI and BQI was surprising and was mostly due to the fact that the dominant species Ditrupa arietina featured a low ES50(0.

Marine quality assessment by use of benthic species-abundance distributions: a proposed new protocol within the European Union Water Framework Directive.

The aim of this study is to develop a new method for classification of marine benthic quality according to the European Union Water Framework Directive. Tolerance values to environmental disturbance were determined in an objective analysis for benthic species along the Swedish west coast by using 4676 samples from 257 stations. Based on a combination of the species tolerance values, abundance and diversity, a benthic quality index (BQI) was calculated for the assessment of environmental status at a particular station.

Vanishing seagrass (Zostera marina, L.) in Swedish coastal waters.

Along the Swedish Skagerrak coast eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a dominant phanerogam on shallow soft bottoms. Eelgrass meadows are important biotopes for many crustacean and fish species being either migratory or stationary. During the 1980s, inventories of the shallow coastal areas with eelgrass have been carried out along the Swedish west coast as a basis for coastal zone management.