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 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.

Establishing reference conditions for Polish lakes - preliminary results

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Soszka ◽  
Agnieszka Kolada ◽  
Małgorzata Gołub ◽  
Dorota Cydzik
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Reference Values ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Reference Conditions ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
The Eu

Establishing reference conditions for Polish lakes - preliminary resultsEstablishing reference conditions is essential for performing ecological status assessments of surface waters according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Ecological status is described as the deviation from undisturbed (reference) conditions. This paper presents the process of establishing preliminary reference values for chlorophyll

scholarly journals A rule-based modelling concept to simulate hydromorphological measures – a tool for the design of programmes of measures for the EU Water Framework Directive

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 101-105
Author(s):  
H. Nacken
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
European Water ◽  
Promising Solution ◽  
Good Ecological Status ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Abstract. Hydromorphological deficits are of real concern regarding the goals of the European Water Framework Directive to reach a good ecological status. The effects of measures that change the morphological structure of a river is hard to predict. Existing methods to simulate this process in a traditional numerical model can not be applied to whole river systems. Using a rule-based modelling concept to find feasible measures and predict the impact of those measures is a very promising solution.

scholarly journals Descriptors from Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile meadows in coastal waters of Valencia, Spain, in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 1492-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Fernández-Torquemada ◽  
Marta Díaz-Valdés ◽  
Francisco Colilla ◽  
Beatriz Luna ◽  
José Luis Sánchez-Lizaso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Independent Set ◽  
Posidonia Oceanica ◽  
Shoot Density ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Consistent Information ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Fernández-Torquemada, Y., Díaz-Valdés, M., Colilla, F., Luna, B., Sánchez-Lizaso, J. L., and Ramos-Esplá, A. A. 2008. Descriptors from Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile meadows in coastal waters of Valencia, Spain, in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1492–1497. Evaluations are provided of 21 descriptors of Posidonia oceanica meadows along the coast of Valencia, Spain, with a view to using these in implementing the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). The descriptors selected are known to respond to a variety of anthropogenic disturbances. Data were collected at 17 locations during three consecutive years. A principal components analysis was used to classify the ecological status of each locality according to five classes as prescribed by the WFD. To identify the descriptors that contributed most to similarity among localities within each class and to dissimilarity between adjacent classes, a similarity percentage analysis was performed. We also correlated the descriptors with an independent set of indicators for various types of anthropogenic pressures on the water bodies associated with the different localities. The descriptors providing the most consistent information on status as well as demonstrating a significant relationship with estimated pressures were: shoot density, shoot foliar surface, dead-matte cover, meadow cover, herbivore pressure, rhizome baring/burial, foliar necrosis, percentage of plagiotropic rhizomes, and leaf-epiphyte biomass.

scholarly journals Legal framing for achieving ‘good ecological status’ for Malaysian rivers: Are there lessons to be learned from the EU Water Framework Directive?

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 251-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasyikah Md Khalid ◽  
Mazlin Bin Mokhtar ◽  
Faridah Jalil ◽  
Suhaimi Ab Rahman ◽  
Christopher Spray
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Good Ecological Status ◽  
The Eu

scholarly journals DNAqua-Net or how to navigate on the stormy waters of standards and legislations

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Mergen ◽  
Kristian Meissner ◽  
Daniel Hering ◽  
Florian Leese ◽  
Agnès Bouchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Dna Barcode ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Taxonomic Resolution ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Genetic Tools ◽  
General Data Protection Regulation ◽  
The Eu

Several national and international environmental laws require countries to meet clearly defined targets with respect to the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. In Europe, the EU-Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) represents such a detailed piece of legislation. The WFD that requires the European member countries to achieve an at least ‘good’ ecological status of all surface waters at latest by the year 2027. In order to assess the ecological status of a given water body under the WFD, data on its aquatic biodiversity are obtained and compared to reference status. The mismatch between these two metrics then is used to derive the respective ecological status class. While the workflow to carry out the assessment is well established, it relies only on few biological groups (typically fish, macroinvertebrates and a few algal taxa such as diatoms), is time consuming and remains at a lower taxonomic resolution, so that the identifications can be done routinely by non-experts with an acceptable learning curve. Here, novel genetic and genomic tools provide new solutions to speed up the process and allow to include a much greater proportion of biodiversity in the assessment process. further, results are easily comparable through the genetic ‘barcodes’ used to identify organisms. The aim of the large international COST Action DNAqua-Net (http://dnaqua.net/) is to develop strategies on how to include novel genetic tools in bioassessment of aquatic ecosystems in Europe and beyond and how to standardize these among the participating countries. It is the ambition of the network to have these new genetic tools accepted in future legal frameworks such as the EU-Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC). However, a prerequisite is that various aspects that start from the validation and completion of DNA Barcode reference databases, to the lab and field protocols, to the analysis processes as well as the subsequently derived biotic indices and metrics are dealt with and commonly agreed upon. Furthermore, many pragmatic questions such as adequate short and long-term storage of samples or specimens for further processing or to serve as an accessible reference need also be addressed. In Europe the conformity and backward compatibility of the new methods with the existing legislation and workflows are further of high importance. Without rigorous harmonization and inter-calibration concepts, the implementation of the powerful new genetic tools will be substantially delayed in real-world legal framework applications. After a short introduction on the structure and vision of DNAqua-Net, we discuss how the DNAqua-Net community considers possibilities to include novel DNA-based approaches into current bioassessment and how formal standardization e.g. through the framework of CEN (The European Committee for Standardization) may aid in that process (Hering et al. 2018, Leese et al. 2016, Leese et al. 2018. Further we explore how TDWG data standards can further facilitate swift adoption of the genetic methods in routine use. We further present potential impacts of the legislative requirements of the Nagoya Protocol on the exchange of genetic resources and their implications for biomonitoring. Last but not least, we will touch upon the rather unexpected influence that the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may have on the bioassessment work in practice.

scholarly journals Development and application of the modelling system J2000-S for the EU-water framework directive

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fink ◽  
P. Krause ◽  
S. Kralisch ◽  
U. Bende-Michl ◽  
W.-A. Flügel
Keyword(s):  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
Distributed Hydrological Model ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Modelling System ◽  
The Eu

Abstract. The scientific sound definition of measures to achieve the goals of the EU water framework directive (WFD) acquires spatially distributed analyses of the water and substance dynamics in meso- to macro-scale catchments. For this purpose, modelling tools or systems are needed which are robust and fast enough to be applied on such scales, but which are also able to simulate the impact of changes on single fields or small areas of a specific land use in the catchment. To face these challenges, we combined the fully-distributed hydrological model J2000 with the nitrogen transport routines of the Soil Water Assessment Tool SWAT model, which are normally applied in a semi-distributive approach. With this combination, we could extend the quantitative focus of J2000 with qualitative processes and could overcome the semi-distributed limitation of SWAT. For the implementation and combination of the components, we used the Jena Adaptable Modelling System JAMS (Kralisch and Krause, 2006) which helped tremendously in the relatively rapid and easy development of the new resultant model J2000-S (J2000-Substance). The modelling system was applied in the upper Gera watershed, located in Thuringia, Germany. The catchment has an area of 844 km2 and includes three of the typical landscape forms of Thuringia. The application showed, that the new modelling system was able to reproduce the daily hydrological as well as the nitrogen dynamics with a sufficient quality. The paper will describe the results of the new model and compare them with the results obtained with the original semi-distributed application of SWAT.

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