EEA-led EMMA WS2/8

EEA-led EMMA Workshop on “Requirements and data needs to develop assessments of marine ecological processes and biological elements”
Copenhagen, 20-21November 2006
Workshop Background Document
Overview of the results of the questionnaire on monitoring of biological quality elementsunder the Water Framework Directive

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) Common Implementation Strategy(CIS) ECOSTAT (ecological status) Working Group is responsible for the WFD intercalibration exercise. The purpose of the intercalibration is to make sure that Member States monitoring and assessment methods/systems provide comparable ecological status classifications. Allowing, for example, to determine which national metrics for a given biological element (expressed as Ecological Quality Ratios) correspond to the WFD “high/good” and “good/moderate” ecological status class boundaries.

For the October 2006 ECOSTAT WFD CIS meeting, representatives were asked to filla questionnaire asking whether they were planning to collect data for each of the WFD biological quality elements through the WFD monitoring programmes (surveillance and/or operational). If this was the case, representatives were asked to provide the name/title of the assessment method that they intended to use, a short description, and the status of development of the method.

The questionnaire was developed in order to obtain an overview (as of 20 October 2006) of the current situation with monitoring the biological quality elements under the WFD, and of whether the methods used had been agreed (adopted at the national level) or not yet. For coastal waters, the WFD biological quality elements are as follows: Macroinvertebrates,Phytoplankton (Chlorophyll), Phytoplankton (composition & abundance) Macroalgae,Angiosperm. However, the tables below concern all waters.

Note that the WFD intercalibration exercise has been going on for some years now and will continue until March-June 2007. The information put forward here has been provided by ECOSTAT representatives in an informal basis in the context of the intercalibration exercise as explained above, and has been kindly facilitated by the Commission’s DG Environment. It is, therefore, preliminary and unofficial as Member States will not have to report on their WFD monitoring networks formally to the Commission in March 2007. It has been provided here for to the participants EEA-led EMMA Workshop on “Requirements and data needs to develop assessments of marine ecological processes and biological elements” to be able to identify which of the biological elements, listed in Annex II of Table 1, of the proposed Marine Strategy Directive (MSD) for the “initial assessment” will be monitored using agreed methods at the regional sea level for the coastal water bodies designated under the WFD.

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OVERVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE TO ECOSTAT REPRESENTATIVES ABOUT BIOLOGICAL QUALITY ELEMENTS MONITORING

Question: are you planning to collect data for each of these biological quality elements through the WFD monitoring programmes (surveillance and/or operational)? If this is the case, please provide the name/title of the assessment method that you intend to use, a short description and the status of development of the method.
LEGEND: / Agreed method / Under development / No information / Not applicable
Country  / AT / BE / CY / CZ / DE / DK / EE / EL / ES / FI / FR / HU / IE / IT / LT / LU / LV / MT / NL / PL / PT / SE / SI / SK / UK / NO / BG / RO
Quality element ↓
RIVERS / Macroinvertebrates
Phytobenthos
Macrophytes
Fish
LAKES / Macroinvertebrates
Phytoplankton (Chlorophyll)
Phytoplankton (composition & abundance)
Phytobenthos
Macrophytes
Fish
COASTAL / Macroinvertebrates
Phytoplankton (Chlorophyll)
Phytoplankton (composition & abundance)
Macroalgae
Angiosperm
TRANSITIONAL / Macroinvertebrates
Phytoplankton (Chlorophyll)
Phytoplankton (composition & abundance)
Macroalgae
Angiosperm
Fish

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WGA 06/4 v.2 - BQE data collection questionnaire

Date / MemberState / Results received (Y or N) / Comments
06/09/06 / AT /

Y

/ Development of assessment methods is finalised. Legal regulation has to incorporate the outcomes of the IC exercise and is planned for 2007 (“final agreement”). No methods have been developed for Macroinvertebrates and phytobenthos.
14/09/06
Correction received 16/10/06 / BE / Y / Methods for testing in all waters in Flanders are under development, waiting to be validated and agreed. Coastal testing for macroinvertebrates and phytoplankton is ongoing. River testing for macroinvertebrates and phytobenthos in Wallonia has been agreed.
19/09/06 / CY / Y / The STAR_ICMi method for testing macroinvertebrates in rivers has been agreed, new dedicated systems are under development. Methods for testing phytobenthos, macrophytes, fish and macroinvertebrates in lakes are to be clarified under the terms of FICHE. The Bentix method for testing macroinvertebrates in coastal waters has been agreed, the Ambi method requires further testing. Testing methods for testing Phytoplankton (Chlorophyll) in coastal waters have been agreed.
26/09/06 / CZ / Y / Sampling methods have been agreed for rivers, but assessment methods are still under development. All sampling methods for lakes are under development. Transitional and costal waters are not relevant for CZ.
13/09/06
Correction received 19/10/06 / DE / Y / The majority of monitoring programmes are under development. The method for monitoring coastal angiosperm in salt marshes has been agreedis under development. The transitional water phytoplankton (abundance and composition) method is under examination to determine its applicability for German transitional waters.
14/09/06 / DK / Y / For all waters listed as “under development”, the monitoring methods have been agreed but the assessment methods are still under development. Phytobenthos in rivers are not included in the national monitoring programme.
22/09/06 / EE / Y / No transitional water bodies identified. No method for testing fish in lakes.
15/09/06 / EL / Y / Methods for sampling macroinvertebrates in rivers have been agreed, but BMG has not been implemented as a national or regional method. Methods used for sampling phytobenthos and macrophytes in rivers are not an official national method.
22/09/06 / ES / Y / No methods identified for testing in coastal or transitional water bodies. All testing methods for rivers and lakes classified as “under development” are listed as commonly used methods by Spain, but are not identified as “agreed” or “under development”.
26/09/06 / FI / Y / All monitoring methods for rivers, lakes and coastal waters are under development. No information provide on transitional waters.
30/08/06 & 22/09/06
Corrections 8/11/06 / FR / Y / Information on coastal and transitional waters excluded overseas territories. National methods have been agreed for sampling rivers. Revision is in process for testing macroinvertebrates and phytobenthos to meet WFD standards.
Agreed method (green) is understood as : methods for collecting data + assessment, agreed at national level. If green, adaptation may be necessary to be fully WFD compliant ; works are already carried out for this purpose, e.g. on invertebrates and diatoms for rivers.
22/09/06 / HU / Y / Coastal and transitional waters not applicable.
20/09/06 / IE / Y / All methods are under development. Methods for testing macroinvertebrates and phytoplankton (chlorophyll) in coastal waters have been partially agreed.
13/09/06 / IT / Y / ICMi (IC indices) methods for sampling macroinvertebrates in rivers have been agreed (preliminary classification). New assessment systems for classification are under development. Methods for sampling phytoplankton (composition and abundance) have been partially agreed, but still under development. Mediterranean methods for testing macroalgae in coastal waters have been agreed and are waiting testing on Italian data. Angiosperm in coastal waters under finalization.
22/09/06 / LT / Y / WFD monitoring programmes for surface waters still under development
LU
21/09/06 / LV / Y / All methods classified as “under development” have been agreed but the quality classification system acc. to the WFD is still under development.
25/07/06 / MT / Y / WFD monitoring programmes for surface waters still under development, so unable to submit the required information at this stage.
03/08/06 / NL / Y / All monitoring methods for all waters are under development, to be completed by the end of 2006. All assessment methods for all waters have been agreed as a working procedure for ecological assessment. The assessment methods are receiving an ongoing process of improvement.
03/08/06 / PL / Y / Information only provided on methods under development for macrophytes in rivers and lakes.
PO
21/09/06
Correction received 16/10/06 / PT / Y / Sampling method agreed and index under development (to be applicable in 2007 WFD monitoring programme) for all testing apart from: all lakes, macroalgae (coastal and transitional), angiosperm and fish (transitional) – all under development. Not applicable for phytobenthos, macroinvertebrates or macrophytes (lakes) or angiosperm (coastal).
Methods are agreed and ready to be used in the WFD 2007 monitoring programmes for the following QE:
CW: Macroinvertebrates and Phytoplankton (chlorophyll, composition and abundance);
TW: Macroinvertebrates and Phytoplankton (chlorophyll, composition and abundance).
The remaining QE (with CW Angiosperms exception) already have sampling methods defined but are still under final testing.
22/09/06
Correction received 13/10/06 / SE / Y / All sampling methods for rivers and lakes have been agreed, but quality criteria is under development and undergoing intercalibration. This excludes macrophytes (rivers) and phytobenthos (lakes), which are not in use. All handbooks have been agreed for coastal and transitional waters, but quality criteria is under development and undergoing intercalibration. This excludes fish (transitional), which have been agreed.
18/09/06 / SI / Y / No transitional water body.
13/09/06
Corrections 8/11/06 / SK / Y / All “agreed” methods will be “officially agreed” by the end of September 2006 for selected types. Methods for phytoplankton apply to large lowland rivers only. Lakes, transitional and coastal waters are not relevant for Slovakia
20/09/06 / UK / Y / The method for testing macroinvertebrates in rivers has been agreed. All other methods are under development. Methods being inter-calibrated in the GIGs plus additional national methods are most likely for selection. Updates on the state of method selection will be available in November 2206. A web site is being established to make research reports publicly available over the next 12 months.
28/09/06 / NO / Y / Information received for coastal and transitional waters. For coastal waters, agreed methods exist for macroinvertebrates and for phytoplankton (chl) with the remaining BQEs under development. Norway does not have transitional waters of sufficient size to meet the requirements of the WFD
BG
17/09/06
Correction received 16/10/06 / RO / Y / The information received indicated that sampling methods were in place for the majority of BQEs but that assessment methods had yet to be developed. The methods for which information was provided have been classified as under development.

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