Boundary conditions for the European Water Framework Directive in the Ria Formosa lagoon, Portugal (physico-chemical and phytoplankton quality elements)

Loureiro, Sofia; Newton, Alice; Icely, John

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2005.11.029

Cited by 71 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…7 The influence of freshwater is not dominant in this system, as discussed by Newton et al, 3 Newton and Mudge 15 and Loureiro et al 29 Salinity is closely related to temperature inside Ria Formosa. Typically, salinity is higher during the warm summer, due to evaporation and smaller in the cooler winter due to freshwater inputs from rainfall and run-off.…”

Section: Influence Of Freshwatermentioning

confidence: 61%

Sediment and waternutrients and microalgae in a coastal shallow lagoon, Ria Formosa (Portugal): Implications for the Water Framework Directive

et al. 2010

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Coastal shallow lagoons are considered to be highly important systems, which have specific biogeochemical cycles and characteristics. The assessment of sediment-water interfaces is essential to understand nutrient dynamics and to evaluate the vulnerability to eutrophication, especially in regions of restricted water exchange (RRE), such as the Ria Formosa, which have natural conditions for the accumulation of nutrients. Water samples were collected during the years of 2006 and 2007-08 for nutrients, chlorophyll a and dissolved oxygen. Sediment samples were also collected for pore water nutrients and microphytobenthic chlorophyll a. Measurements of temperature, salinity and photosynthetic active radiation were also taken. The lagoon salinity is affected by occasional strong rainfall events. From comparison with previous work, a decrease in the nitrogen concentration in the water column can be observed, which may indicate an improvement of the water quality. Pore water nutrient concentrations were significantly larger than in the water column. Sediment-water exchanges are considered to be the most important processes in nutrient dynamics of the lagoon. Benthic microalgal biomass was also large compared with that of the phytoplankton. It represents about 99% of the total microalgal chlorophyll biomass of the system. The lagoon also contains (discontinuous) meadows of intertidal seagrass, but we did not study these. Due to the importance of sediments, the standard monitoring plans required by the Water Framework Directive may fail to track changes in the nutrient conditions and the microalgal responses to them.

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Section: Influence Of Freshwatermentioning

confidence: 61%

Sediment and waternutrients and microalgae in a coastal shallow lagoon, Ria Formosa (Portugal): Implications for the Water Framework Directive

et al. 2010

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“…Most of these variables are related to eutrophication, and normally are studied in the same context as phytoplankton or macroalgae (see below, and Loureiro et al, 2006;Azevedo et al, 2008;Giordani et al, 2009). However, some legislation, such as the WFD, seeks for independent assessments.…”

Section: Classifying Biological Quality Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Classifying Ecological Quality and Integrity of Estuaries

Borja¹,

Basset²,

Bricker³

et al. 2011

Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science

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There is an increasing need in assessing ecological quality and integrity of estuaries and lagoons. This chapter shows the most recent efforts in assessing individual biological elements (from phytoplankton to fishes), together with the integrative tools developed in different geographical areas worldwide. However, reducing complex information from multiple ecosystem elements to a single color or value is a substantial challenge to marine scientists, and requires the integration of different disciplines (chemists, engineers, biologists, ecologists, physics, managers, etc.), to reach agreement on the final assignment of ecological status. Hence, in the near future, emphasis needs to be directed at understanding the complexities of estuarine system functioning rather than simplifying and scaling down the system into smaller components. Provided for non-commercial research and educational use.Not for reproduction, distribution or commercial use.This chapter was originally published in Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science, published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for noncommercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who you know, and providing a copy to your institution's administrator.All other uses, reproduction and distribution, including without limitation commercial reprints, selling or licensing copies or access, or posting on open internet sites, your personal or institution's website or repository, are prohibited.For exceptions, permission may be sought for such use through Elsevier's permissions site at: Author's personal copy AbstractThere is an increasing need in assessing ecological quality and integrity of estuaries and lagoons. This chapter shows the most recent efforts in assessing individual biological elements (from phytoplankton to fishes), together with the integrative tools developed in different geographical areas worldwide. However, reducing complex information from multiple ecosystem elements to a single color or value is a substantial challenge to marine scientists, and requires the integration of different disciplines (chemists, engineers, biologists, ecologists, physics, managers, etc.), to reach agreement on the final assignment of ecological status. Hence, in the near future, emphasis needs to be directed at understanding the complexities of estuarine system functioning rather than simplifying and scaling down the system into smaller components.

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“…Loureiro et al 7 report values of oxygen saturation between 81-111% at station R and 76-108% at station P, and emphasise that the results for oxygen concentrations essentially reflect the time of day when the samples are collected. In a more wide ranging study of the western lagoon, Mudge et al 12 observe that oxygen saturation does not exceed 70% at some inner regions of the lagoon and that the lowest oxygen saturation ($44%) occurs in waters with the highest calculated residence time (7 days).…”

Section: Newton and Mudgementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Others report the occurrence of oxygen sags. 7,8,11,12 Consequently, in accordance with the WFD, an ''operational'' monitoring plan has been designed to determine the occurrence, extent and gravity of the problem and to identify the possible onset and extent of hypoxia in the Ria Formosa lagoon. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how an analysis of historical data for oxygen condition can be useful in the design of a monitoring plan and a programme for implementation of the WFD.…”

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Monitoring of oxygen condition in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon, Portugal

et al. 2010

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Dissolved oxygen (DO) is one of the most important environmental variables of water quality, especially for marine life. Consequently, oxygen is one of the Chemical Quality Elements required for the implementation of European Union Water Framework Directive. This study uses the example of the Ria Formosa, a meso-tidal lagoon on the south coast of Portugal to demonstrate how monitoring of water quality for coastal waters must be well designed to identify symptoms of episodic hypoxia. New data from the western end of the Ria Formosa were compared to values in a database of historical data and in the published literature to identify long-term trends. The dissolved oxygen concentration values in the database and in the literature were generally higher than those found in this study, where episodic hypoxia was observed during the summer. Analysis of the database showed that the discrepancy was probably related with the time and the sites where the samples had been collected, rather than a long-term trend. The most problematic situations were within the inner lagoon near the city of Faro, where episodic hypoxia (<2 mg dm À3 DO) occurred regularly in the early morning. These results emphasise the need for a balanced sampling strategy for oxygen monitoring which includes all periods of the day and night, as well as a representative range of sites throughout the lagoon. Such a strategy would provide adequate data to apply management measures to reduce the risk of more persistent hypoxia that would impact on the ecological, economic and leisure uses of this important natural resource.

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Boundary conditions for the European Water Framework Directive in the Ria Formosa lagoon, Portugal (physico-chemical and phytoplankton quality elements)

Cited by 71 publications

References 48 publications

Sediment and waternutrients and microalgae in a coastal shallow lagoon, Ria Formosa (Portugal): Implications for the Water Framework Directive

Sediment and waternutrients and microalgae in a coastal shallow lagoon, Ria Formosa (Portugal): Implications for the Water Framework Directive

Classifying Ecological Quality and Integrity of Estuaries

Monitoring of oxygen condition in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon, Portugal

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