Ecological reference conditions and quality states of marine macroalgae sensu Water Framework Directive: An example from the intertidal rocky shores of the Portuguese coastal waters

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 24-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Gaspar ◽  
Leonel Pereira ◽  
João M. Neto
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Marine Macroalgae ◽  
Rocky Shores

scholarly journals Land-use and agriculture in Denmark around year 1900 and the quest for EU Water Framework Directive reference conditions in coastal waters

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bent T. Christensen ◽  
Birger F. Pedersen ◽  
Jørgen E. Olesen ◽  
Jørgen Eriksen
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to protect the ecological status of coastal waters. To establish acceptable boundaries between good and moderate ecological status, the WFD calls for reference conditions practically undisturbed by human impact. For Denmark, the nitrogen (N) concentrations present around year 1900 have been suggested to represent reference conditions. As the N load of coastal waters relates closely to runoff from land, any reduction in load links to agricultural activity. We challenge the current use of historical N balances to establish WFD reference conditions and initiate an alternative approach based on parish-level land-use statistics collected 1896/1900 and N concentrations in root zone percolates from experiments with year 1900-relevant management. This approach may be more widely applicable for landscapes with detailed historic information on agricultural activity. Using this approach, we find an average N concentration in root zone percolates that is close to that of current agriculture. Thus, considering Danish coastal waters to be practically unaffected by human activity around year 1900 remains futile as 75% of the land area was subject to agricultural activity with a substantial potential for N loss to the environment. It appears unlikely that the ecological state of coastal waters around year 1900 may serve as WFD reference condition.

scholarly journals Monitoring Scotland’s transitional water fish communities under the EU Water Framework Directive

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-67
Author(s):  
M. O’Reilly ◽  
J. Boyle ◽  
S. Nowacki ◽  
M. Elliott ◽  
R. Foster
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
High Status ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Transitional Waters ◽  
Water Fish ◽  
The Eu

The history of monitoring transitional water fish in Scotland is briefly outlined. The requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive are explained and how this applies to the monitoring of transitional water fish communities in Scotland is described. The development of a monitoring programme for Scotland is outlined, including sampling methods and strategies. Six transitional waters were selected as representative for Scotland covering three different types of transitional water. A multi-metric tool, the Transitional Water Fish Classification Index was used to assess the ecological status of the fish communities in these waters and the operation of the different metrics and the creation of appropriate reference conditions is explained. The assessment tool was applied to survey data from 2005 to 2018, although only the more recent data fully met the tool requirements. The species composition and abundances in the respective transitional waters were compared. The fully valid surveys were all classed as of Good or High status, indicating the fish communities in all the representative transitional waters appeared to be in good ecological health. The efficacy of the different metrics is considered and some issues with Metric 2, enumerating migratory species, are discussed at length. A new multi-metric tool, the Estuarine Multi-metric Fish Index, is briefly discussed and its introduction for the assessments in Scotland is recommended.

scholarly journals Validation of river typologies using molecular information from diatoms

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreia Mortágua ◽  
Marco Teixeira ◽  
Manuela Sales ◽  
Maria Feio ◽  
Salomé Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Ecological Indicators ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Reference Database ◽  
Depth Information ◽  
Morphological Identification ◽  
Body Type ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding ◽  
Total Environment

The European Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) includes biological assessment of water bodies that has been implemented for many years. Indicator organisms such as diatoms respond to geological and hydrological features of rivers by modifying their structure. Therefore, when implementing the WFD, it was necessary to establish type-specific reference conditions to be able to measure the deviations of sampled communities due to anthropogenic impact.HTS-related eDNA metabarcoding has been developed to complement or even replace traditional approaches for its rapid, low-cost and highly accurate identification of communities for assessment of rivers’ ecological status (e.g. Mortágua et al., 2019; Pérez-Burillo et al. 2020) and proved to provide even more in-depth information about biological elements. The use of this information without assignment to species is being addressed once it eliminates the limiting factor of the reference database incompleteness and may provide new ecological information (e.g. Feio et al., 2020; Rivera et al., 2020). Since WFD requires the establishment of reference conditions for each water body type, for eDNA methods’ implementation it will be essential to review, confirm or reformulate, and perhaps create new typologies. Hereupon, the aim of this study is to analyze diatom communities from different typologies of Portuguese rivers resulting from DNA metabarcoding data and compare it with current typology system. To do so, we will verify the consistency of biological groups included in each type, validate the molecular data, analyze the correspondence of OTU/ISU/ESV to environmental characteristics of rivers. A total of 154 sampling sites were selected from central Portugal and northern Portugal in 2017 and 2019. The biofilm was collected for morphological identification and DNA sequencing of diatoms. Reference sites were selected for 4 river types (mountain, littoral, small and medium-large northern rivers) based on a set of pressure information (water quality, hydromorphology, land use and riparian zones). Diatom inventories were obtained from molecular and morphological analysis. DNA sequences were treated using Mothur software which processed two bioinformatic strategies in order to obtain the final ISU and OTU tables, while ESVs were treated with DADA2 package from R. Identification and counting of diatom valves took place under the light microscope concerning the morphological approach. We expect results to validate the molecular data for each typology either when assigning to species or not, and to understand whether it is necessary to establish new typologies for future use of the molecular approach in ecological assessment of rivers. Directive, W. F. (2000). Water Framework Directive. Journal reference OJL, 327, 1-73. Feio, M. J., Serra, S. R., Mortágua, A., Bouchez, A., Rimet, F., Vasselon, V., & Almeida, S. F. P. (2020). A taxonomy-free approach based on machine learning to assess the quality of rivers with diatoms. Science of the Total Environment, 722, 137900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137900 Mortágua, A., Vasselon, V., Oliveira, R., Elias, C., Chardon, C., Bouchez, A., ... & Almeida, S. F. P. (2019). Applicability of DNA metabarcoding approach in the bioassessment of Portuguese rivers using diatoms. Ecological indicators, 106, 105470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105470 Pérez-Burillo, J., Trobajo, R., Vasselon, V., Rimet, F., Bouchez, A., & Mann, D. G. (2020). Evaluation and sensitivity analysis of diatom DNA metabarcoding for WFD bioassessment of Mediterranean rivers. Science of the Total Environment, 727, 138445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138445 Rivera, S. F., Vasselon, V., Bouchez, A., & Rimet, F. (2020). Diatom metabarcoding applied to large scale monitoring networks: Optimization of bioinformatics strategies using Mothur software. Ecological indicators, 109, 105775. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105775

Population dynamics and reproduction ofHolothuria arenicola(Holothuroidea: Echinodermata) in coastal waters of Pakistan, North Arabian Sea

2015 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 1245-1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saima Siddique ◽  
Zarrien Ayub
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Body Shape ◽  
Gonad Index ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Autumn And Winter ◽  
Holothuria Arenicola

In Pakistan, although the sea cucumber fishery has not yet been developed,Holothuria arenicolais abundant on its coast. Nineteen months of sampling was carried out to study the population structure, allometric relationships and reproductive status ofH. arenicolastocks in Manora and Buleji rocky shores. All measured biometric characters showed significant temporal variations and width/length, weight/length, gutted weight/length and gutted weight/weight relationships followed negative allometry, indicating a change in body shape as the animal grows. Length-frequency distribution analysis was bimodal in both summer and autumn consisting of small-sized and medium-sized individuals while in winter and spring three modes were found at Manora. At Buleji, the population was unimodal in all seasons consisting of small-sized individuals. Sex inH. arenicolacannot be determined externally but can be identified on examination of gonad colour which is orange-like in females and creamy yellow in males. The sex was further confirmed on histological examination and maturation was divided into five stages, i.e. undetermined, early developing, late developing, mature and partially spawned. The sex ratio inH. arenicolawas approximately 1:1 and increase in gonad index was observed during spring and early summer, followed by a decrease in GI in autumn and winter, which showed the spawning followed by resting phase. The GI showed a significant negative correlation with salinity and non-significant correlation with temperature. There is a need to undertake more biological/ecological studies onH. arenicolain order to take effective measures for its management.

scholarly journals Spatial distribution and abundance of nonindigenous coral genus Tubastraea (Cnidaria, Scleractinia) around Ilha Grande, Brazil

2005 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 661-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. F. Paula ◽  
J. C. Creed
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Shallow Waters ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Visual Estimation ◽  
Hard Substratum ◽  
Coral Genus ◽  
Different Depths

The distribution and abundance of azooxanthellate coral Tubastraea Lesson, 1829 were examined at different depths and their slope preference was measured on rocky shores on Ilha Grande, Brazil. Tubastraea is an ahermatypic scleractinian nonindigenous to Brazil, which probably arrived on a ship's hull or oil platform in the late 1980's. The exotic coral was found along a great geographic range of the Canal Central of Ilha Grande, extending over a distance of 25 km. The abundance of Tubastraea was quantified by depth, using three different sampling methods: colony density, visual estimation and intercept points (100) for percentage of cover. Tubastraea showed ample tolerance to temperature and desiccation since it was found more abundantly in very shallow waters (0.1-0.5 m), despite the fact that hard substratum is available at greater depths at all the stations sampled. At most sites, 1 to 5 colonies per 0.25 m² were found most frequently, but occasionally more than 50 colonies were found per 0.25 m², indicating a somewhat gregarious spatial distribution for this coral. The coral Tubastraea was found to occupy slopes of every possible angle in the Canal Central of Ilha Grande, but more colonies were found occupying slopes of 80 to 100°. Therefore, its insensitivity to angles of recruitment and its tolerance for different depths makes it an organism with great ecological tolerance, with a potential to colonize new areas and increase its current range in Brazil's coastal waters.

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