J. Germán Rodríguez

Implementation of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive: A methodological approach for the assessment of environmental status, from the Basque Country (Bay of Biscay)

The implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is directing European marine research towards the coordinated and integrated assessment of sea environmental status, following the ecosystem-based approach. The MSFD uses a set of 11 descriptors which, together, summarise the way in which the whole system functions. As such, the European Commission has proposed an extensive set of indicators, to assess environmental status. Hence, taking account of the large amount of data available for the Basque coast (southern Bay of Biscay), together with a recent proposal for assessment within the MSFD, an integrated environmental status assessment approach is developed (for the first time) in this contribution. The strengths and weaknesses of the method, combined with proposals from the MSFD, are discussed.

Using multiple ecosystem components, in assessing ecological status in Spanish (Basque Country) Atlantic marine waters

The European Water Framework and Marine Strategy Directives relate to the assessment of ecological quality, within estuarine and coastal systems. This legislation requires quality to be defined in an integrative way, using several biological elements (phytoplankton, benthos, algae, phanerogams, and fishes), together with physico-chemical elements (including pollutants). This contribution describes a methodology that integrates all of this information into a unique quality assessment for 51 stations from 18 water bodies, within the Basque Country. These water bodies are distributed into four typologies, including soft-bottom coastal areas and three types of estuaries. For each station, decision trees were used to integrate (i) water, sediment and biomonitor chemical data to achieve an integrated physico-chemical assessment and (ii) multiple biological ecosystem elements into an integrated biological assessment. Depending on the availability of ecological quality ratios or global quality values, different integration schemes were used to combine station assessments into water body assessments on a single scale. Several examples from each element have been selected, to illustrate their responses to different pressures; likewise, to establish how the assessed integrated quality has changed, over time. The results made biological and ecological sense and physico-chemical improvements were often correlated with improvements in the quality of benthos and fishes. These tools permit policy makers and managers to take decisions, based upon scientific knowledge, in water management, regarding the mitigation of human pressures and associated recovery processes.

Response of single benthic metrics and multi-metric methods to anthropogenic pressure gradients, in five distinct European coastal and transitional ecosystems

In recent times many benthic indices have been proposed to assess the ecological quality of marine waters worldwide. In this study we compared single metrics and multi-metric methods to assess coastal and transitional benthic status along human pressure gradients in five distinct environments across Europe: Varna bay and lake (Bulgaria), Lesina lagoon (Italy), Mondego estuary (Portugal), Basque coast (Spain) and Oslofjord (Norway). Hence, 13 single metrics (abundance, number of taxa, and several diversity and sensitivity indices) and eight of the most common indices used within the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) for benthic assessment were selected: index of size spectra (ISS), Benthic assessment tool (BAT), Norwegian quality index (NQI), Multivariate AMBI (M-AMBI), Benthic quality index (BQI), (Benthic ecosystem quality index (BEQI), Benthic index based on taxonomic sufficiency (BITS), and infaunal quality index (IQI). Within each system, sampling sites were ordered in an increasing pressure gradient according to a preliminary classification based on professional judgement. The different indices are largely consistent in their response to pressure gradient, except in some particular cases (i.e. BITS, in all cases, or ISS when a low number of individuals is present). Inconsistencies between indicator responses were most pronounced in transitional waters (i.e. IQI, BEQI), highlighting the difficulties of the generic application of indicators to all marine, estuarine and lagoonal environments. However, some of the single (i.e. ecological groups approach, diversity, richness) and multi-metric methods (i.e. BAT, M-AMBI, NQI) were able to detect such gradients both in transitional and coastal environments, being these multi-metric methods more consistent in the detection than single indices. This study highlights the importance of survey design and good reference conditions for some indicators. The agreement observed between different methodologies and their ability to detect quality trends across distinct environments constitutes a promising result for the implementation of the WFDs monitoring plans. Moreover, these results have management implications, regarding the dangers of misclassification, uncertainty in the assessment, use of conflicting indices, and testing and validation of indices.

Meiofauna distribution along a gradient of sandy beaches in northern Spain

Ten sandy beaches located in northern Spain were studied during the summer of 1999 to analyse the patterns in number of major taxa, abundance and biomass of meiofauna along a gradient of morphodynamic beach types and exposure rate. Sediment samples were collected with metallic cylinders (23 cm 2 cross-sectional area, 120 cm long) at 10 equally spaced shore levels along six replicated transects extended from the drift line down to the low tide level. Wave exposure rate and Dean’s parameter were estimated at each sampled beach. The meiofauna was primarily represented by Nematoda and Harpacticoidea. Meiofaunal abundances ranged between 64 � 10 6 and 296 � 10 6 ind. m � 1 , whereas biomass (ash free dry weight) per linear meter of beach ranged between 30 and 166 g m � 1 . The results showed two significant trends: (1) the meiofaunal biomass increases exponentially with exposure rate from exposed to very exposed beaches; and (2) the number of major taxa increases exponentially with exposure rate and linearly with average grain size. These trends are opposite to the general patterns of the sandy beach macroinfauna, which is generally negatively affected by increases in wave exposure and grain size. This suggests that macro- and meiofauna are affected in different ways by the physical processes associated with wave action. 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Baseline of butyltin pollution in coastal sediments within the Basque Country (northern Spain), in 2007–2008

Tributyltin (TBT), dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT) were measured in surficial sediments at, the ports of Pasaia and Bilbao, together with other mid- and small-size harbours of the Basque Country (northern Spain), in 2007-2008. The highest values of the sum of the three measured butyltin species (3523-3640 ng g(-1), as Sn) were found at sampling stations near to shipyards located within the port of Pasaia. The highest value of TBT concentration (3143 ng g(-1), as Sn) was found at the marina of Getxo, in the port of Bilbao. The degree of TBT degradation varied greatly between sampling stations, being found to be generally higher in those sediments with higher values of redox potential and lower values of TBT concentration (normalized by organic matter content).

Community structure of the intertidal meiofauna along a gradient of morphodynamic sandy beach types in southern Chile

Se estudiaron tres playas arenosas del sur de Chile (Gaviotas, Guabun y Mar Brava; ca. 42o S) durante el verano del 2000 para analizar los patrones de abundancia y biomasa de la meiofauna a lo largo de un gradiente de tipos morfodinamicos de playas. Se recolectaron muestras de sedimento con cilindros metalicos (23 cm2 de area, 120 cm de longitud) en diez niveles espaciados a intervalos regulares a lo largo de seis transectos separados de 5 a 10 m y extendidos desde un punto sobre el nivel de marea alta y el nivel de marea baja. En cada nivel de muestreo se midio porosidad, fuerza de cizalla, contenido de agua, penetrabilidad y tamano del grano. La meiofauna estuvo primariamente representada por Nematoda y Copepoda Harpacticoidea. Las mayores densidades y biomasas medias por unidad de area se encontraron en la playa reflectiva de Gaviotas (6.172 ind 10 cm-2 y 2,38 g m-2, peso seco libre de cenizas) en comparacion con la playa intermedia de Guabun (3.390 ind 10 cm-2 y 1,70 g m-2) y la playa disipativa de Mar Brava (3.667 ind 10 cm-2 y 0,86 g m-2). La abundancia y biomasa total de la meiofauna por metro lineal de playa (i.e., meiofauna total contenida en un transecto intermareal de 1 m de ancho) fueron mayores en Mar Brava (506 x 106 ind m-1 y 119,4 g m-1) versus Gaviotas (271 x 106 ind m-1 y 101,7 g m-1) y Guabun (143 x 106 ind m-1 y 73,9 g m-1). Por lo tanto, estos ultimos resultados muestran una tendencia de aumento de abundancia y biomasa de la meiofauna intermareal hacia el tipo disipativo dentro del gradiente estudiado de tipos de playas. Los valores mas altos de densidad y biomasa de la meiofauna se encontraron en los niveles superiores y medio de cada playa. En la playa disipativa, se encontro la menor variabilidad en abundancia y biomasa de la meiofauna a lo ancho del intermareal. Segun la prueba de permutacion de Monte Carlo, el contenido de agua, penetrabilidad y tamano del grano fueron las variables que mejor predicen la variabilidad de las densidades de la meiofauna. Los tamanos corporales de nematodos, copepodos, turbelarios, halacaridos y ostracodos estuvieron correlacionados con las caracteristicas del sedimento. En general, las relaciones entre estructura comunitaria de la meiofauna y morfodinamica de playas, fueron similares a aquellas encontradas para la macroinfauna de diferentes playas arenosas alrededor del mundo, lo que sugiere que la meiofauna y macroinfauna son afectadas similarmente por los procesos fisicos asociados a diferentes tipos de playas

A Catalogue of Marine Biodiversity Indicators

A Catalogue of Marine Biodiversity Indicators was developed with the aim of providing the basis for assessing the environmental status of the marine ecosystems. Useful for the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), this catalogue allows the navigation of a database of indicators mostly related to biological diversity, non-indigenous species, food webs, and seafloor integrity. Over 600 indicators were compiled, which were developed and used in the framework of different initiatives (e.g. EU policies, research projects) and in national and international contexts (e.g. Regional Seas Conventions, and assessments in non-European seas). The catalogue reflects the current scientific capability to address environmental assessment needs by providing a broad coverage of the most relevant indicators for marine biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. The available indicators are reviewed according to their typology, data requirements, development status, geographical coverage, relevance to habitats or biodiversity components, and related human pressures. Through this comprehensive overview, we discuss the potential of the current set of indicators in a wide range of contexts, from large-scale to local environmental programs, and we also address shortcomings in light of current needs. Developed by the DEVOTES Project, the catalogue is freely available through the DEVOTool software application, which provides browsing and query options for the associated metadata. The tool allows extraction of ranked indicator lists best fulfilling selected criteria, enabling users to search for suitable indicators to address a particular biodiversity component, ecosystem feature, habitat or pressure in a marine area of interest. This tool is useful for EU Member States, Regional Sea Conventions, the European Commission, non-governmental organizations, managers, scientists and any person interested in marine environmental assessment. It allows users to build, complement or adjust monitoring programs and has the potential to improve comparability and foster transfer of knowledge across marine regions.

Imposex and butyltin body burden in Nassarius nitidus (Jeffreys, 1867), in coastal waters within the Basque Country (northern Spain).

Levels of imposex (superimposition of male characters, upon females) and the presence of sterile females are assessed in the gastropod Nassarius nitidus (Jeffreys, 1867), at 22 locations in the Basque Country (northern Spain). At 18 of these localities, butyltin bioaccumulation (tributyltin (TBT); dibutyltin; monobutyltin) was analysed using isotope dilution and GC-ICP-MS. Higher imposex levels and TBT body burden were found in confined harbours, with a large vessel traffic or the presence of a fishing fleet or a shipyard. For the first time, four apparently sequential types of aborted capsules are described in this species. Another novelty is the interspecific comparison between imposex intensities in sympatrically living populations of N. nitidus and N. reticulatus. This showed that sensitivity to TBT pollution of both species is relatively similar (in terms of Relative Penis Length Index). Since N. nitidus has a restricted habitat distribution due to its low presence in wave-exposed habitats, its complementary use with other species is recommended for its use in TBT monitoring programmes.

Biological Responses at Supraindividual Levels

The effects of pollutants on marine fauna and flora cover many direct and indirect effects at supraindividual levels, from populations to ecosystems. In recent times, hundreds of indicators, metrics, and assessment methods have been developed to determine the impacts of those pollutants on different components of the ecosystem. This development is generally included in the framework of national and international legislation, approved in different continents. Pollution effects on organisms can imply consequences at the population level to different degrees, from changes in population dynamics or genetic diversity, to the local extinction of a population. In turn, ecological integrity assessment requires the study of structure (e.g., richness, diversity), function (e.g., response of sensitive and opportunistic species or biological traits to pollution), and processes at the community level. However, the most important challenge is to understand the response of the complete ecosystem to interactions between multiple stressors (i.e., cumulative, synergistic, antagonistic) and to assess marine health in an integrative way at regional or global scales.

Rocky Reef and Sedimentary Habitats Within the Continental Shelf of the Southeastern Bay of Biscay

Publisher Summary The Basque continental shelf is located in the southeastern part of the Bay of Biscay. It is very narrow, ranging from 7 to 20 km, and comprises the total length of the coastline of ca. 150 km. Structural features dominate the morphology of the continental shelf, where horsts and anticlines, found generally in Cretaceous rocks, form areas starved of soft Neogene sediment. Faults and synclines filled with Tertiary material underlie sandy depressions. Coastal rock lithologies are mainly sandstone, calcareous sandstone, limestone, clay, limonite, marl, and marly limestone. Offshore, the external section of the continental shelf is a sedimentary Neogene and Pleistocene prism, developed by progradation. At shallow-water depth, wave-induced morphologies such as rhythmic surf zone sandbars and troughs, and sandbank morphologies associated to the wave closure depth, could be identified. Regarding macroalgae, the zonation in the intertidal and subtidal zones is determined by tides and exposure to wave action. Rocky bottoms are dominant along the shore and they reach the outer part of the continental shelf; meanwhile, sandbanks are distributed from beaches and river mouths down to muddy depths. Marine habitats along the Basque coast are related to geomorphology and hydrography. The analysis of biological and environmental data shows that wave energy, in the near-bottom, and sedimentary characteristics are the main environmental factors explaining the composition and spatial distribution of sedimentary benthic communities. Within the continental shelf, habitat suitability modeling has been applied, focusing on biological resource management.