Marine macrophytes and the Water Framework Directive: preliminary studies in southern Spain
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: The Water Framework Directive (WFD) includes angiosperms and macroalgae as biological quality elements (BQE) for coastal and transitional waters. In southern Spain (Andalusia), studies to implement the WFD using angiosperms (seagrasses) started in June 2009. Different approaches have been considered; the first was the variation of this BQE along an environmental gradient; the second consisted on an extensive sampling\n\t\t\t\t campaign in the coastal waters from the western province of Huelva to the eastern province of Almeria. The surveys showed marked differences among the sites and species, indicating a broad variation in the\n\t\t\t\t ecological quality values for the water bodies. Additionally, these results will be compared with a similar research conducted on Ria Formosa (Portugal) to provide preliminary classifications of the ecological status of coastal and transitional waters of the southern Iberian Peninsula.\n\t\t\t\t With respect to the BQE “macroalgae”, two indices; the CFR (quality of rocky shores) and RSL (reduced species list) have been estimated. The ecological differences between coastal zones in the North Atlantic ecoregion where these methods of assessment have been developed (Northern Spain and the United Kingdom, respectively) and the Atlantic coast of Cadiz, suggested the need for an adaptation of both indices in southern Spain. These extensive surveys have allowed the elaboration of a reduced species list for the rocky shores on the southwestern Spanish Atlantic coasts.\n\t\t\t\t The present study shows the preliminary efforts and results of the assessment of BQEs based on marine macrophytes in Southern Spain. Some concerns about the need of reassessment of the proposed tools from the North Atlantic ecoregion when applied to Andalusian water bodies are also discussed.
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G5867013586
OpenAlex ID: W109641803