Towards the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Mediterranean transitional waters: the use of macroinvertebrates as biological quality elements

Abstract

During the last decade the Water Framework Directive (WFD) has driven scientific community endeavours towards the development of assessment tools to determine the Ecological Quality Status (EQS) for all surface waters, including transitional waters (TWs). Macroinvertebrates being used as Biological Quality Elements encouraged the development of distinct multimetric and multivariate indices, initially based on taxonomic approaches. Those indices were mostly developed for the marine environment and applied extensively on TWs. The main discrepancies in the ecological quality status assessment arise on TWs, partially due to the difficulty in discriminating the effects of natural stress from anthropogenic impact. As a response, indices following functional approaches are being developed and applied in assessing the EQS in these environments. Next, the validation and intercalibration of the metrics as well as the settlement of reference conditions are additional sources of variability inherent to any assessment. This paper aims at briefly presenting the different steps needed for the implementation of WFD on Mediterranean TWs. It highlights existing difficulties and possible research lines to be explored in order to reduce sources of variability and better assess the status of such water bodies.

A preliminary study on the diversity of invertebrates associated with Corallina officinalis Linnaeus in southern Istrian peninsula

“…The study conducted by LIUZZI & GAPPA (2008) concluded that changes in assemblage structure at the local scale were of a much smaller magnitude than those observed at regional scale and may be attributed to small differences in habitat topography, intertidal elevation, wave exposure, and distance to harbors or different sources of pollution. Invertebrates are considered very suitable organisms as indicators of natural and anthropogenic changes and there are various indices that use the ratio of sensitive and opportunistic species and groups in the assessment of the quality of coastal waters (DAUVIN & RUEL-LET, 2007;BORJA et al, 2009;CABANA et al, 2013). In the Mediterranean Sea Corallina officinalis is most commonly found in the intertidal zone, but it is also present at higher depths in subtidal area (BABBINI & BRESSAN, 1997). The mapping carried out in the eastern Adriatic has shown that settlements of this coralline algae were registered across 13% of the surveyed coastline (NIKOLIĆ et al, 2013).…”

Changes in Composition of Mollusks within Corallina officinalis Turfs in South Istria, Adriatic Sea, as a Response to Anthropogenic Impact

“…In many habitats, macroalgae and other flora determine the physical structure of the environment and influence the composition of organisms and their mutual interaction [14]. Various benthic groups, mostly macrofauna, have been used as indicators of different stressors or pollution in the environment [15][16][17].…”