de-la-Ossa-Carretero, Jose Antonio, Del-Pilar-Ruso, Yoana, Gimenez-Casalduero, Francisca, Sánchez-Lizaso, José Luis
Testing BOPA index in sewage affected soft-bottom communities in the north-western Mediterranean
OSSA CARRETERO, José Antonio de la, et al. “Testing BOPA index in sewage affected soft-bottom communities in the north-western Mediterranean”. Marine Pollution Bulletin. Article in Press (2008). ISSN 0025-326X
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/9073
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.10.017
ISSN: 0025-326X
Abstract: 
The implementation of the European Directive (ELD) 2000/60/EC has produced the development of several biotic indices based in benthic communities. These indices try to summarise ecological quality status of different communities. However a universal index that works in all situations is difficult to establish, because there are several sources of variation. Therefore, there is the need for testing and validation of these indices which is required for making management decisions on different scales, and in different regions and communities. In this study we test one of these indices, BOPA index, developed by Dauvin and Ruellet (2007), in five locations affected by sewage disposal. These disposals are often released via outfall into shallow subtidal habitats, leading to a common source of pollution in coastal marine environments. BOPA index provides a valuable overview of the gradient status of a benthic environment, discriminating between stations more affected by discharge. Nevertheless, BOPA index, used to establish the ECOlogical Quality Status, seemed to overestimate the status and hence there is the need to  calibrate the thresholds between EcoQs classes as defined for these medium-to-fine-sand communities, which are characteristics of shallow sublittoral soft-bottoms of the north-western Mediterranean Sea.
Keywords:Benthic indicators, BOPA index, Soft bottoms, Opportunistic polychaetes, Amphipods, Mediterranean, Sewage, Water Framework Directive
Elsevier
info:eu-repo/semantics/article