A biotic index using the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (BiPo), to evaluate ecological status of coastal waters

Royo, Cecilia Lopez y; Casazza, Gianna; Pergent-Martinì, Christine; Pergent, Gérard

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2009.07.005

Cited by 56 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…aThe metrics of PREI are: shoot density, shoot leaf surface area, ratio between epibiota biomass and leaf biomass, depth of the lower limit and type of this limit [14].bThe metrics of POMI are: shoot density, meadow cover, percentage of plagiotropic rhizomes, shoot leaf surface area, percentage of foliar necrosis, P, N and sucrose content in rhizomes, δ 15 N and δ 34 S isotopic ratio in rhizomes, N content in epiphytes, Cu, Pb and Zn content in rhizomes [12].cThe metrics of BiPo are: shoot density, shoot leaf surface area, lower depth limit and lower limit type [15].PREI, POMI and BiPo indices are based upon distinct but similar metrics and range from 0 (lowest ecological status) to 1 (highest ecological status).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Assess the Status of a Mediterranean Ecosystem, the Posidonia oceanica Seagrass Meadow

et al. 2014

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Biotic indices, which reflect the quality of the environment, are widely used in the marine realm. Sometimes, key species or ecosystem engineers are selected for this purpose. This is the case of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica, widely used as a biological quality element in the context of the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). The good quality of a water body and the apparent health of a species, whether or not an ecosystem engineer such as P. oceanica, is not always indicative of the good structure and functioning of the whole ecosystem. A key point of the recent Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is the ecosystem-based approach. Here, on the basis of a simplified conceptual model of the P. oceanica ecosystem, we have proposed an ecosystem-based index of the quality of its functioning, compliant with the MSFD requirements. This index (EBQI) is based upon a set of representative functional compartments, the weighting of these compartments and the assessment of the quality of each compartment by comparison of a supposed baseline. The index well discriminated 17 sites in the north-western Mediterranean (French Riviera, Provence, Corsica, Catalonia and Balearic Islands) covering a wide range of human pressure levels. The strong points of the EBQI are that it is easy to implement, non-destructive, relatively robust, according to the selection of the compartments and to their weighting, and associated with confidence indices that indicate possible weakness and biases and therefore the need for further field data acquisition.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Assess the Status of a Mediterranean Ecosystem, the Posidonia oceanica Seagrass Meadow

et al. 2014

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“…The present study suggests that nutrient efflux can also show deterioration of P. oceanica vegetated sediments and, therefore, such flux can be used as indicator of P. oceanica communities' health. Phenological, biogeochemical, and demographic indicators have been used so far to evaluate P. oceanica status (Pergent-Martini et al, 2005;Holmer et al, 2008;Perez et al, 2008;Montefalcone, 2009;Lopez y Royo et al, 2010). However, most of the metrics operate at individual or population level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degrading seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) ecosystems: a source of dissolved matter in the Mediterranean

et al. 2010

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“…The identification of 'new diagnostic tools' to monitor the meadows conservation status is a critical issue. Standard monitoring indicators are several [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]; according to Montefalcone [11] standard monitoring indicators can be classified as structural descriptors at individual level (shoot phenology and biomass), at population level (bed density and coverage) or at community level (leaves epiphytes). However, many of them suffer of a lack in sensitivity and often to obtain significant information it's necessary to use a combination/integration of indicators [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of <i>Posidonia Oceanica</i> (L.) Delile conservation status by standard and putative approaches: the case study of Santa Marinella meadow (Italy, W Mediterranean)

Rotini¹,

Micheli²,

Valiante³

2011

OJE

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The conservation status of the Posidonia oceanica meadow at Santa Marinella (Rome) was evaluated through both standard (bed density, leaf biometry, "A" coefficient, Leaf Area Index, rhizome production) and biochemical/genetic approaches (total phenol content and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA marker). The biochemical/genetic results are in agreement with those obtained by standard approaches. The bed under study was ranked as a disturbed one, due to its low density, and high heterogeneity in leaf biometry, LAI values, "A" coefficient and primary production. This low quality ranking is confirmed by both mean phenol content in plants, quite high and scattered, and by the low genetic variability in the meadow, with a very high similarity of specimen at a local scale. Hence, these two putative approaches clearly identify the endangered conservation status of the meadow. They link plant biodiversity and ecophysiology to ecosystem 'health'. Furthermore, they are repeatable and standardizable and could be usefully introduced in meadows monitoring to check environmental quality.

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A biotic index using the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (BiPo), to evaluate ecological status of coastal waters

Cited by 56 publications

References 31 publications

An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Assess the Status of a Mediterranean Ecosystem, the Posidonia oceanica Seagrass Meadow

An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Assess the Status of a Mediterranean Ecosystem, the Posidonia oceanica Seagrass Meadow

Degrading seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) ecosystems: a source of dissolved matter in the Mediterranean

Assessment of <i>Posidonia Oceanica</i> (L.) Delile conservation status by standard and putative approaches: the case study of Santa Marinella meadow (Italy, W Mediterranean)

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A biotic index using the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (BiPo), to evaluate ecological status of coastal waters

Cited by 56 publications

References 31 publications

An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Assess the Status of a Mediterranean Ecosystem, the Posidonia oceanica Seagrass Meadow

An Ecosystem-Based Approach to Assess the Status of a Mediterranean Ecosystem, the Posidonia oceanica Seagrass Meadow

Degrading seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) ecosystems: a source of dissolved matter in the Mediterranean

Assessment of &lt;i&gt;Posidonia Oceanica&lt;/i&gt; (L.) Delile conservation status by standard and putative approaches: the case study of Santa Marinella meadow (Italy, W Mediterranean)

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Assessment of <i>Posidonia Oceanica</i> (L.) Delile conservation status by standard and putative approaches: the case study of Santa Marinella meadow (Italy, W Mediterranean)