Suchergebnisse

This work was funded by theFrench CoastalProtectionAgency (Conservatoire de l'Espace Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres ; in short: Conservatoire du Littoral) within the framework of the Mediterranean Small Islands Initiative PIM. Thanks are due to Michael Paul, an English native speaker, for proof-reading the English and to an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments and suggestions. ; International audience ; The CARLIT methodology is an Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) widely used in the Mediterranean Sea to assess the ecological status of coastal water bodies, within the framework of the European Water Directive (European Union, EU) of 2000. It is based upon the exhaustive mapping of a set of mid-littoral and shallow infralittoral species and communities. This methodology was applied, for the first time in a non-EU country, Albania, three years after the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The observed range of ecological status was wide ('high' through 'bad') and was overall among the lowest assessed to date in the Mediterranean Sea. The bioconstructions (algal rims) edified in the lower mid-littoral zone by the calcified rhodobiont Lithophyllum byssoides were in poor condition and sometimes even dead, possibly in relation with the pollution and the on-going global sea-level rise. In addition, Cystoseira amentacea, a brown alga whose weight in the index is high, could be less sensitive to pollution than previously expected. The occurrence of extensive sea-urchin barren-grounds, though not taken into consideration by the CARLIT index, confirmed the poor condition of large sectors of the study area. Overall, the assessed ecological status could prove to be overestimated by the CARLIT methodology and some methodological improvements should therefore be considered.

This work was funded by theFrench CoastalProtectionAgency (Conservatoire de l'Espace Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres ; in short: Conservatoire du Littoral) within the framework of the Mediterranean Small Islands Initiative PIM. Thanks are due to Michael Paul, an English native speaker, for proof-reading the English and to an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments and suggestions. ; International audience ; The CARLIT methodology is an Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) widely used in the Mediterranean Sea to assess the ecological status of coastal water bodies, within the framework of the European Water Directive (European Union, EU) of 2000. It is based upon the exhaustive mapping of a set of mid-littoral and shallow infralittoral species and communities. This methodology was applied, for the first time in a non-EU country, Albania, three years after the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The observed range of ecological status was wide ('high' through 'bad') and was overall among the lowest assessed to date in the Mediterranean Sea. The bioconstructions (algal rims) edified in the lower mid-littoral zone by the calcified rhodobiont Lithophyllum byssoides were in poor condition and sometimes even dead, possibly in relation with the pollution and the on-going global sea-level rise. In addition, Cystoseira amentacea, a brown alga whose weight in the index is high, could be less sensitive to pollution than previously expected. The occurrence of extensive sea-urchin barren-grounds, though not taken into consideration by the CARLIT index, confirmed the poor condition of large sectors of the study area. Overall, the assessed ecological status could prove to be overestimated by the CARLIT methodology and some methodological improvements should therefore be considered.

This work was funded by theFrench CoastalProtectionAgency (Conservatoire de l'Espace Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres ; in short: Conservatoire du Littoral) within the framework of the Mediterranean Small Islands Initiative PIM. Thanks are due to Michael Paul, an English native speaker, for proof-reading the English and to an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments and suggestions. ; International audience ; The CARLIT methodology is an Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) widely used in the Mediterranean Sea to assess the ecological status of coastal water bodies, within the framework of the European Water Directive (European Union, EU) of 2000. It is based upon the exhaustive mapping of a set of mid-littoral and shallow infralittoral species and communities. This methodology was applied, for the first time in a non-EU country, Albania, three years after the establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The observed range of ecological status was wide ('high' through 'bad') and was overall among the lowest assessed to date in the Mediterranean Sea. The bioconstructions (algal rims) edified in the lower mid-littoral zone by the calcified rhodobiont Lithophyllum byssoides were in poor condition and sometimes even dead, possibly in relation with the pollution and the on-going global sea-level rise. In addition, Cystoseira amentacea, a brown alga whose weight in the index is high, could be less sensitive to pollution than previously expected. The occurrence of extensive sea-urchin barren-grounds, though not taken into consideration by the CARLIT index, confirmed the poor condition of large sectors of the study area. Overall, the assessed ecological status could prove to be overestimated by the CARLIT methodology and some methodological improvements should therefore be considered.

49th European Marine Biology Symposium (EMBS) -- SEP 08-12, 2014 -- Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA ; WOS: 000364937700002 ; The degree of development and operability of the indicators for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) using Descriptor 1 (D1) Biological Diversity was assessed. To this end, an overview of the relevance and degree of operability of the underlying parameters across 20 European countries was compiled by analysing national directives, legislation, regulations, and publicly available reports. Marked differences were found between countries in the degree of ecological relevance as well as in the degree of implementation and operability of the parameters chosen to indicate biological diversity. The best scoring EU countries were France, Germany, Greece and Spain, while the worst scoring countries were Italy and Slovenia. No country achieved maximum scores for the implementation of MSFD D1. The non-EU countries Norway and Turkey score as highly as the top-scoring EU countries. On the positive side, the chosen parameters for D1 indicators were generally identified as being an ecologically relevant reflection of Biological Diversity. On the negative side however, less than half of the chosen parameters are currently operational. It appears that at a pan-European level, no consistent and harmonized approach currently exists for the description and assessment of marine biological diversity. The implementation of the MSFD Descriptor 1 for Europe as a whole can therefore at best be marked as moderately successful. ; Russian Acad Sci, Zool Inst ; COST Action ES1003 EMBOS on the Development and Implementation of a Pan-European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System; MARES Grant under the Erasmus Mundus framework [FPA 2011- 0016]; SZN PhD fellowship; Portuguese PhD FCT grant [SFRH/BD/84933/2012] ; Meetings to prepare this paper were made possible by funding through COST Action ES1003 EMBOS on the Development and Implementation of a Pan-European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System. Carlos Castellanos Perez Bolde acknowledges MARES Grant FPA 2011- 0016 under the Erasmus Mundus framework, Marlene Jahnke has been supported by a SZN PhD fellowship, and Joao N. Franco by Portuguese PhD FCT grant SFRH/BD/84933/2012.

13 páginas, 1 figura, 2 tablas. ; The degree of development and operability of the indicators for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) using Descriptor 1 (D1) Biological Diversity was assessed. To this end, an overview of the relevance and degree of operability of the underlying parameters across 20 European countries was compiled by analysing national directives, legislation, regulations, and publicly available reports. Marked differences were found between countries in the degree of ecological relevance as well as in the degree of implementation and operability of the parameters chosen to indicate biological diversity. The best scoring EU countries were France, Germany, Greece and Spain, while the worst scoring countries were Italy and Slovenia. No country achieved maximum scores for the implementation of MSFD D1. The non-EU countries Norway and Turkey score as highly as the top-scoring EU countries. On the positive side, the chosen parameters for D1 indicators were generally identified as being an ecologically relevant reflection of Biological Diversity. On the negative side however, less than half of the chosen parameters are currently operational. It appears that at a pan-European level, no consistent and harmonized approach currently exists for the description and assessment of marine biological diversity. The implementation of the MSFD Descriptor 1 for Europe as a whole can therefore at best be marked as moderately successful. ; Meetings to prepare this paper were made possible by funding through COST Action ES1003 EMBOS on the Development and Implementation of a Pan-European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System. Carlos Castellanos Perez Bolde acknowledges MARES Grant FPA 2011–0016 under the Erasmus Mundus framework, Marlene Jahnke has been supported by a SZN PhD fellowship, and Joa˜o N. Franco by Portuguese PhD FCT grant SFRH/BD/84933/2012. ; Peer reviewed