Tag Archives: Benthic habitats

All BISI related information gathered on one site

Posted on by
Westerschelde intertidal zone

The BISI protocol for generic application (BISI v2) is available now. The Benthic Indicator Species Index (BISI) is specifically developed for quality status evaluation and evaluation of quality developments of benthic habitats. Compared to v1, BISIs (area specific indicator species lists with reference occurrences for comparison) are in v2 constructed in a standardized way at the level of ecotopes (or broad habitat types) which allows application in similar habitat within the same region. From these BISIs at ecotope level, area specific indices can be constructed surface area ratio based.

Specific assessment tools are developed and made available for:

  • Application in soft sediment habitats of OSPAR region II (Greater North Sea region) distinguishing 6 broad habitat types and make use of approximately 0.1 m2 grab or (box)core monitoring data.
  • Application for marine Habitat Directive (HD) habitat types of the Dutch ‘Delta-waters’, the Wadden Sea and the coastal zone of the North Sea, making use of benthos data from two categories of sampling techniques (core – and benthic dredge related samples).
  • Application in distinguished areas of the Dutch North Sea with regards to the MSFD, the HD and evaluation of effectiveness of management measures, making use of benthos data from core – and benthic dredge related samples in (most) soft sediment areas, and the combination of video and grab sampling in areas with gravel and boulders.

Tools are available for direct application in similar situations (habitats x monitoring techniques), or new BISIs can be constructed according to the protocol for other types of habitats, geographical regions and/or monitoring specificities.

We are very interested in the results and experiences from testing or application of existing assessment tools or new constructed BISIs specific for other situations based on your own monitoring data. Therefore all BISI related documents (including with regards to earlier versions) and assessment tools are now gathered on one site: http://ecoauthor.net/bisi/. You will stay informed on new developments, applications and/or results via the BISI site. Please contact us if we can be of help or to share your findings.

“The focus of current international quality status assessments (e.g. MSFD – and OSPAR assessments) with regards to seafloor integrity is predominantly on large-scale assessment of expected impact from dominant pressures taking sensitivity of habitats into account. It is however of importance to verify the quality status with benthic observations, which can be related to specific impacts and habitat changes. Herewith key processes and management options can be identified or evaluated. The BISI could potentially fill in this gap.“

Quality status benthic habitats Dutch North Sea

Posted on by

Example of H1110b – photo O.G. Bos.

The Ecoauthor report on the quality status and developments of benthic habitats and MSFD-areas of the Dutch North Sea is now available. The report presents the results of the application of the Benthic Indicator Species Index (BISI) on the 2015 monitoring data (considered the T0 as various measures of the Dutch Action plan Marine Strategy were just or still had to be implemented in 2015) and compares the quality status with the recent historic developments.

Some of the most important findings are:

– A stagnation and recent decline in the benthic habitat quality of offshore areas like the Frisian Front and Central Oystergrounds after years of improvement. This might be the result of a gradual movement of (seafloor disturbing) fisheries from the coastal zone to the offshore regions as suggested by results of specific BISI analyses (focussed on specific indicator species for seafloor disturbance) and the possible first improvements as observed in coastal areas.
– The permanent large impact of amongst others nutrients and pollutants (summarized as ecological disturbance) on benthic habitat quality, especially in the coastal zone, but also extending to further offshore areas like the Doggersbank. Although ecological disturbance is the most important pressure in the area of the Doggersbank, the observed decrease in benthic quality during the last two decades seems to be the result of increasing seafloor disturbance.

The study was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) in consultation with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW), and executed in cooperation with Wageningen Marine Research (WMR).

The entire report can be downloaded from here (at the moment only in Dutch, but an English translation is foreseen).

Wijnhoven, S. (2018). T0 beoordeling kwaliteitstoestand NCP op basis van de Benthische Indicator Soorten Index (BISI). Toestand en ontwikkelingen van benthische habitats en KRM gebieden op de Noordzee in en voorafgaand aan 2015. Rapport Ecoauthor & Wageningen Marine Research. Ecoauthor Report Series 2018 – 01, Heinkenszand, the
Netherlands.

Annex 1 ‘KRM factsheet D6C3 Benthische habitats kwaliteit (BISI)‘ is available from here.