Baltic Sea eutrophication: area-specific ecological consequences

Rönnberg, Cecilia; Bonsdorff, Erik

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0920-0_21

Cited by 57 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In brackish water systems such as the Baltic Sea two main environmental variables (salinity and oxygen supply) affect the composition of the benthic community and species' abundance (e.g., [129]). Within a few hundred kilometers to the east or the north, the salinity values decrease from about 30 down to 5 and, finally, in the most northern part to more or less freshwater conditions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

et al. 2010

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The brackish Baltic Sea hosts species of various origins and environmental tolerances. These immigrated to the sea 10,000 to 15,000 years ago or have been introduced to the area over the relatively recent history of the system. The Baltic Sea has only one known endemic species. While information on some abiotic parameters extends back as long as five centuries and first quantitative snapshot data on biota (on exploited fish populations) originate generally from the same time, international coordination of research began in the early twentieth century. Continuous, annual Baltic Sea-wide long-term datasets on several organism groups (plankton, benthos, fish) are generally available since the mid-1950s. Based on a variety of available data sources (published papers, reports, grey literature, unpublished data), the Baltic Sea, incl. Kattegat, hosts altogether at least 6,065 species, including at least 1,700 phytoplankton, 442 phytobenthos, at least 1,199 zooplankton, at least 569 meiozoobenthos, 1,476 macrozoobenthos, at least 380 vertebrate parasites, about 200 fish, 3 seal, and 83 bird species. In general, but not in all organism groups, high sub-regional total species richness is associated with elevated salinity. Although in comparison with fully marine areas the Baltic Sea supports fewer species, several facets of the system's diversity remain underexplored to this day, such as micro-organisms, foraminiferans, meiobenthos and parasites. In the future, climate change and its interactions with multiple anthropogenic forcings are likely to have major impacts on the Baltic biodiversity.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

et al. 2010

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“…A spatially large national type area may, in turn, cover an important spatial salinity gradient. Different natural stressors have led to the understanding that the consequences of eutrophication can take different pathways in different parts of the Baltic Sea, meaning that the Baltic Sea cannot be regarded as a uniform waterbody in modelling the consequences of human impacts (Rönnberg & Bonsdorff, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the coastal water quality in Estonia based on benthic invertebrate communities

Kotta¹,

Lauringson²,

Kaasik³

et al. 2012

Estonian J. Ecol.

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The European Union Water Framework Directive requires that all member states assess the status of their coastal areas and develop or use existing classification systems to support future monitoring. To set the quality assessment system for the Estonian coastal sea, the composition of modern zoobenthic communities was compared to the communities from the 1950s-1960s. Sensitivity values of benthic taxa were determined, and the macrozoobenthic community index ZKI and boundaries for the classification system were developed. The ZKI index was further validated against nutrient loads and the spatial location relative to pressure, represented by the Baltic Sea Pressure Index (BSPI). High variability in Ecological Quality Ratio assessment results was found for both ZKI and brackish water benthic index (BBI) based assessments. However, in the study area, ZKI assessments fluctuated to a smaller extent and displayed a better correlation with the BSPI than the BBI assessments.

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“…It is also a challenge to separate natural variability from human-induced changes in the environment (Kotta et al, 2012). In the Baltic Sea all communities are under the influence of multiple stressors such as variations in oxygen, salinity, weather, riverine inflow, pollutants and contaminants, ship and boat traffic, pressure from fisheries, introduction of non-native species, which all have effects hardly separable in many cases (Rönnberg and Bonsdorff, 2004). The cumulative effect of natural and anthropogenic impacts is higher in sheltered coastal areas such as the Väinameri and Pärnu Bay.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the fact that more or less the same ecological parameters are involved in the processes in the different parts of the sea, the severity of the changes may differ between regions. Since the effects and consequences may vary, the area-specific approach to the assessment is advisable (Rönnberg and Bonsdorff, 2004 and references therein).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing and development of different metrics and indexes describing submerged aquatic vegetation for the assessment of the ecological status of semi-enclosed coastal water bodies in the NE Baltic Sea

Torn

Martin²,

Rostin³

2014

Estonian J. Ecol.

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A national assessment system for the classification of the ecological status of coastal waters according to the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive was established in Estonia in the year 2007. The Estonian Phytobenthos Index was used to assess the ecological status of coastal waters based on submerged aquatic vegetation. After the testing period it appeared that the selected method did not respond to anthropogenic pressure in two national water types: the Väinameri and Pärnu Bay. During this study new indexes were developed and validated against pressure for these areas. The PCF index was combined from the proportion of perennial species, charophytes, and Fucus spp. This index is suitable for the assessment of the ecological status in the Väinameri area. In Pärnu Bay the depth distribution of higher plants and the proportion of opportunistic species showed the strongest correlation with eutrophication variables. These metrics were combined into the HPO index. The class boundaries for assessing the ecological status of water quality were determined for both indexes. The paper describes the calculation of the indexes.

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Baltic Sea eutrophication: area-specific ecological consequences

Cited by 57 publications

References 12 publications

Status of Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

Status of Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea

Defining the coastal water quality in Estonia based on benthic invertebrate communities

Testing and development of different metrics and indexes describing submerged aquatic vegetation for the assessment of the ecological status of semi-enclosed coastal water bodies in the NE Baltic Sea

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