REFCOAST – TYPOLOGY, REFERENCE
BWZee – A BIOLOGICAL VALUATION
CONDITION AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE
BELGIAN COASTAL WATERS
MAP FOR THE BELGIAN CONTINENTAL
SHELF
Sofie Derous , Stefan Van Damme , Els Van Cleemput , Steven
Degraer , Magda Vincx & Patrick Meire
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Sofie Derous , Steven Degraer , Eric Stienen , Wouter Courtens ,
Els Verfaillie , Vera Van Lancker , Ine Moulaert , Hans Hillewaert ,
Edward Vanden Berghe , Jan Mees , Eckhart Kuijken , Rudy
Declerck & Magda Vincx
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BACKGROUND:
BACKGROUND:
Implementation EU Water Framework Directive
Information on biological value marine environment
lacking
needed to develop spatial structure plan
Coastal Waters: up to 1 NM
Larger scale: entire Belgian Continental Shelf
PHASE A
TYPOLOGY:
System A
System B
≈
~ physical characterisation
ZONATION:
large morphological units
(sandbanks, gullies)
Bathymetrical data
Morphological
Finetuning with
- obligatory factors
- optional factors
- sedimentological
- hydrodynamical
- geological
data
different coastal
water types
ecologically relevant zones
DEFINING REFERENCE CONDITIONS:
PHASE B
Macrobenthic data
For each coastal water type
reference condition
~ high ecological status
Biological quality elements
SPATIAL EXTRAPOLATION OF BIOLOGICAL DATA:
↔
Sediment characteristics:
point data
- mean grain size
- silt content
phytoplankton
macroalgae and
angiosperms
benthos
predictive
predictive
HABITAT
HABITAT
model
model
! Problem: probably not existing for Belgium
other countries
PHASE C
CLASSIFICATION:
Seabirds data
spatial
Spatial
inter-/extraInter-/extrapolation
polation
full coverage
macrobenthic communities - seabird species
distribution maps
CLASSIFICATION:
Existing classification schemes / indices
e.g. benthos
≈
marine Biotic Index
(Borja et al., 2000)
~ organic pollution stress
Preliminary biological valuation map:
macrobenthos/no spatial extrapolation
Extend with
physical disturbance
Ecological Quality Ratio
Classification of all types
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Marine Biology Section
Ghent University, Belgium
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ECOBE, Biology Department
University of Antwerp, Belgium
Biological valuation map
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Resource Analysis NV
Antwerp, Belgium
REFCOAST - Project Promotor: Prof. Dr. Patrick Meire (patrick.meire@ua.ac.be)
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Institute of Nature Conservation
Brussels, Belgium
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Renard Centre of Marine Geology
Ghent University, Belgium
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Sea Fisheries Department
Ostend, Belgium
BWZee – Project Promotor: Prof. Dr. Magda Vincx (magda.vincx@ugent.be)
Both projects are financially supported by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office
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Flanders Marine Institute
Ostend, Belgium