Adaptation of macroalgal indexes to evaluate the ecological quality of coastal waters in oceanic islands with subtropical influence: the Azores (Portugal)

• Main Author: Gabriel,Daniela
• Publication Date: 2014
• Other Authors: Micael,Joana, Parente,Manuela I., Costa,Ana C.
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1646-88722014000200003
• topic: Water Framework Directive; Oceanic Islands; Ecological Quality Index; Macroalgae

Due to their sedentary characteristic and the sensibility of certain taxa to excessive nutrients or toxic substances, the benthic macroalgal assemblage of a given locality reflects the effects of long-term exposure to pollution. For this reason, seaweeds have been used to assess the environmental condition of coastal communities. Since the Water Framework Directive from the European Union (WFD/EU) was launched, several ecological indexes have been developed for ecological quality assessment and monitoring. Those indexes are based on different features that can be easily observed and combined into a single value, which in turn is translated to stakeholders as an ecological status.