Abigail McQuatters-Gollop

Ecological indicator use and selectionIndicators in the context of the MSFDExamples of applied ecological indicators

Plankton ecologically important Unchanged methodology (80 years) Longest, most spatially extensive oceanic monitoring program in the world ~ 1 million samples 500 plankton taxa + indicator of phyto biomass Microplastics Water sampler

Edwards, M. et al (2010) TREE

Policy relevanceSpatio-temporal representivityData

DATE 15.7.10 15.7.11 15.7.12 by 2013 15.7.14 by 2014 by 2015 by 2016 by 2019 2020 Objective: to achieve Good Environmental Status (GEnS) of Europes seas by 2020 Regional seas approach to Ecosystem Based Management Adaptive management Consistency and comparability in monitoring programmes Importance of natural variability 11 qualitative descriptors of GEnS

DATE 15.7.10 15.7.11 15.7.12 by 2013 15.7.14 by 2014 by 2015 by 2016 by 2019 2020

Used to monitor towards environmental targets/GEnSDescriptors -> criteria -> indicator(s)One criterion multiple indicatorsOne indicator multiple measures

EutrophicationNorth AtlanticChl indicatorsChlorophyll concentration

Edwards, M. et al (2010) TREE

Spatial: Many time-series are localizedTemporal: Many time-series are shortEdwards, M. et al (2010) TREE

MSFD flexible -> heterogenous datasets (measures) for indicatorsBroadly applicable approachBest use of available data

many methods of sample collection varying depths inconsistent taxonomic resolution inconsistent measures (#, p/a, rr) patchy seasonal coverage1948 - presentCPR consistent methodology consistent tow depth consistent taxonomic resolution consistent measures monthly tow frequency

CPRComparablestudy areasNo. samplesICESCPRComparabledepthsTotal in DBComparableseasonality13,000~1M

Differences in measures Differences in taxonomic detailICESCPRNo. taxa1824~500No. species1395~300Chaetoceros512Foraminfera87Not spp.

Species name changes/ synonyms

Taxonomic identification

ICES 1900sCPR 1980sCPR 1990sCPR 2000s

ICES 1900sCPR 1960sCPR 1970sCPR 2000sCPR 1980sCPR 1990s

McQ-G, Edwards, Beaugrand SAHFOS

A. McQuatters-Gollop, M. Edwards

SeaWiFS Chl-aCPR - PCIMcQuatters-Gollop L&O

G. Beaugrand

Number of dinoflagellate species per sample

G. Beaugrand & M. Edwards PNAS (bottom) & GCB (top)

May

ICES (1902-1912)%Protoperidinium spp.82.78Ceratium tripos62.22Ceratium furca61.11Ceratium longipes59.44Ceratium fusus58.89Chaetoceros( Hyalochaete ) spp.57.84Dinophysis spp.55.56Chaetoceros( Phaeoceros ) spp.55.14Ceratium macroceros41.67Rhizosolenia hebetata semispina38.38Coscinodiscus concinnus37.84Thalassiosira spp.36.76Rhizosolenia styliformis32.97Unidentified Coscinodiscus spp.30.27Ceratium horridum28.33Leptocylindrus danicus27.03Proboscia alata22.70Lauderia annulata22.16Ceratium lineatum20.56Rhizosolenia imbricata18.92Cerataulina pelagica17.84Pseudo-nitzschia seriata17.84Paralia sulcata16.76Gymnodinium spp.16.67Gonyaulax spp.15.00Guinardia flaccida14.05Ceratium arietinum13.89Dactyliosolen fragilissimus13.51Thalassionema nitzschioides13.51Prorocentrum spp.13.33Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima11.89Cylindrotheca closterium10.81Asterionellopsis glacialis8.65Guinardia striata8.65Gyrosigma spp.8.65Ditylum brightwellii8.11Navicula spp.7.03Actinoptychus spp.6.49Odontella mobiliensis6.49Skeletonema costatum6.49Thalassiothrix longissima6.49Glenodinium spp.5.56Noctiluca scintillans5.56Eucampia zodiacus5.41Podosira stelliger3.24Dissodinium pseudolunula2.78Pronoctiluca pelagica2.78Odontella aurita2.70Odontella sinensis2.70Rhizosolenia setigera2.16Thalassionema frauenfeldii2.16Ebria tripartita1.67Aulacodiscus argus1.62Rhizosolenia spp. (other)1.62Ceratium arcticum1.11Actinocyclus octonarius1.08Bacillaria paxillifer1.08Campylosira cymbelliformis1.08Odontella rhombus f_ trigona1.08Triceratium favus1.08

%CPR (1958-2008)36.95Chaetoceros( Phaeoceros ) spp.35.64Thalassiosira spp.35.11Ceratium fusus33.41Protoperidinium spp.32.00Chaetoceros( Hyalochaete ) spp.26.00Ceratium furca22.30Rhizosolenia hebetata semispina21.94Ceratium tripos16.01Ceratium longipes15.89Rhizosolenia styliformis14.34Ceratium horridum12.88Paralia sulcata12.83Thalassionema nitzschioides11.81Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima complex10.97Ceratium macroceros10.73Rhizosolenia imbrica. shrubsolei9.54Pseudo-nitzschia seriata complex9.39Ceratium lineatum7.62Dinophysis spp.7.15Unidentified Coscinodiscus spp.6.91Odontella sinensis6.69Proboscia alata6.45Asterionellopsis glacialis4.68Skeletonema costatum3.56Cylindrotheca closterium3.44Fragilaria spp.3.18Odontella regia2.75Navicula spp.2.70Gonyaulax spp.2.44Coscinodiscus concinnus2.41Ditylum brightwellii2.39Coscinodiscus wailesii2.34Gyrosigma spp.2.27Scrippsiella spp.2.22Thalassiothrix longissima2.17Eucampia zodiacus2.06Proboscia inermis1.65Guinardia delicatula1.53Noctiluca scintillans1.48Guinardia striata1.48Lauderia annulata1.36Bacillaria paxillifer1.24Rhaphoneis amphiceros1.20Odontella rhombus1.17Odontella aurita1.17Prorocentrum spp. ('Exuviaella' type)1.05Dactyliosolen fragilissimus

Policy relevanceAppropriateness of scaleSynchronize heterogenous datasetsValidation / verification

*SAHFOS has been using applied indicators for many years (examples later)*Impossible to measure the whole ecosystemIf we tried to measure every component contributing to every bit of this diagram we would be monitoring everything overwhelmingSometimes we CANT measure a component so we use a proxy as an indicatorCost effective financial sustanibilitySimplify information -> policy makers, communication, comparability, researchDevelopment of indicators allows us to explain complex systems simplyWeve used indicators to increase our understanding marine ecosystem dynamics and change -> increased conceptual complexityWeve developed indicators that let us manage the ecosystemWeve developed indicators to increase our understanding of temporal and spatial change in marine systemsTargeted, applied indicators allow measurement of key relevant components of the ecosystemDevelopment of CPR indicators co-evolved with policy drivers

*3 attributes that are relevant here These will be explored in the context of the MSFD*MSFD good framework for setting up indicators with heterogenous datasetsCame into force in 2008

*Criteria decided for each descriptor. What will we measure for each descriptor to determine if it is good?

*MSFD flexibility acknowledges many ways to measure one thing*Issue, criteria, indicators*Allows use of heterogenous datasets across european seas -> all still reveal info on ecosystemSubject to interpretation definition of eutrophic varies*Indicators must be spatially and temporally relevantRegional seas approachChange in political termsLarge scale env change can only be understood by monitoring on similar time and spatial scale*Regional scale datasets provide perspective, complimenting localized datasets

*Now...examples*how to use these datasets together to look at indicators?Like with like Seasonality depth spatial coverage measure taxonomic resolution*Need commonalities- Seasonality depth spatial coverage measure taxonomic resolution

* measure p/a, rr, quantitative, taxonomic resolution resolution of analysis, taxonomic detail and species names changes non taxonomic groupings new introductions range changesChaetoceros CPR 2, ICES 51

*Be aware when using heterogenous datasets*Techniques can be applied to other datasetsStandardizing data*% freq of occurrence deals with differences in measures*Also % frequency*Bivalve abundance has declined since the early 1900s. It is not certain that the decline is due to acidification as other work suggests that this decrease may be a predator-prey response due to a climate-induced increase in North Sea decapod larvae (Kirby and Beaugrand, 2009). *Both indicators of phytobiomass, PCI proxy, perspective*****Species name changes/ synonyms WORMS Compare two datasets***