Coastal lagoons are characterized by highly variable physico-chemical and hydro-morphologic conditions, typically resulting in a mosaic of different habitats. Due to the high variability of environmental parameters in the lagoons (e.g. salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature), the species living in such environments adapt to the variability (Cognetti, 1992) and become tolerant of changes (Cognetti and Maltagliati, 2000). Lagoons show a relative paucity of species with respect, e.g., to the marine environment (Fredj et al., 1992). Coastal lagoons are naturally organic rich systems, being structurally eutrophic habitat islands in the coastal landscape. Given this specificity, it would seem prudent to develop specific methods for coastal lagoons before implementing the WFD in transitional waters. Within this framework, we developed the new index BITS (a Benthic Index based on Taxonomic Sufficiency) specifically for coastal lagoons in the Mediterranean Sea
BITS: a SMART indicator for soft-bottom, non-tidal lagoons
MISTRI, Michele;MUNARI, Cristina
2008
Abstract
Coastal lagoons are characterized by highly variable physico-chemical and hydro-morphologic conditions, typically resulting in a mosaic of different habitats. Due to the high variability of environmental parameters in the lagoons (e.g. salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature), the species living in such environments adapt to the variability (Cognetti, 1992) and become tolerant of changes (Cognetti and Maltagliati, 2000). Lagoons show a relative paucity of species with respect, e.g., to the marine environment (Fredj et al., 1992). Coastal lagoons are naturally organic rich systems, being structurally eutrophic habitat islands in the coastal landscape. Given this specificity, it would seem prudent to develop specific methods for coastal lagoons before implementing the WFD in transitional waters. Within this framework, we developed the new index BITS (a Benthic Index based on Taxonomic Sufficiency) specifically for coastal lagoons in the Mediterranean SeaI documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
