Improved benthic conditions compared to the 1990s were found during benthic investigations, including sediment and benthic macrofauna in the inner Stockholm archipelago during 2008. In the 1990s, these areas were dominated by black and laminated surface sediments and very sparse fauna. A clear relationship was found when comparing sediment status with the benthic macrofauna. Reduced surface sediment and impoverished macroinvertebrate community was only found at one sampling station representing an enclosed part of the inner archipelago, whereas the other seven stations, with depths ranging from 20 to 50 m, had oxidized surface sediments and considerable biomasses of benthic macrofauna (6-65 g m -2 ) dominated by the invading polychaete Marenzelleria neglecta. An extrapolation of the results shows that, within the investigated area, the coverage of reduced surface sediments had decreased from approximately 17% in the late 1990s to 4% in 2008.

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This paper describes how morphometric classification (based on openness, form, depth and size) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used for possible identification of coastal areas sensitive to pollution. Generalized maps of key water properties are then created for as large parts of Europe as possible using large amounts of empirical data. These maps give an overview of the general spatial pattern of the presented properties and offer identification of highly polluted coastal areas. They also provide input and reference data for two dynamic ecosystem models (CoastWeb and CoastMab) suitable for in-depth studies of individual coastal areas or regions. A modeling case study of coastal eutrophication is presented to illustrate that these general models may be practically applied for simulations related to the response of coastal ecosystems to various remedial scenarios using only the data presented in the morphometric coastal classification system and in the generalized overview maps.

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