Critical appraisal on the identification of Reference Conditions for the evaluation of ecological quality status along the Emilia-Romagna coast (Italy) using M-AMBI

Paganelli, Daniele; Forni, Giulia; Marchini, Agnese; Mazziotti, Cristina; Occhipinti, Anna

Critical appraisal on the identification of Reference Conditions for the evaluation of ecological quality status along the Emilia-Romagna coast (Italy) using M-AMBI

2011

Paganelli, Daniele | Forni, Giulia | Marchini, Agnese | Mazziotti, Cristina | Occhipinti, Anna

According to the European Water Framework Directive, the ecological status (ES) of a water body is determined by comparing observation data with undisturbed Reference Conditions (RCs). Defining RCs is crucial when evaluating the ES of a water body as it strongly affects the final outcome of any index application. Identifying RCs by observing real sites is not feasible in many marine environments, such as the Emilia-Romagna coast (Italy, N-Adriatic Sea). We used a statistical approach on a large dataset to derive RCs for the application of the benthic index M-AMBI in this area. We then applied M-AMBI to samples collected along a gradient of presumed environmental disturbance. The results put 14.8% of the Emilia-Romagna samples in “High” ES, 60.2% in “Good”, 23.0% in “Moderate” and 2.0% in “Poor”, showing a spatial gradient of improving quality. These results are in agreement with the extensive ecological knowledge available for this area.

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