Monitoring and assessments of biodiversity in the Baltic Sea Samuli Korpinen HELCOM Secretariat Workshop on Biodiversity theme, 7-8 November 2012, Brussels Photo: Metsähallitus

The HELCOM biodiversity core indicators HELCOM core indicators Population growth rates, abundance and distribution of marine mammals Pregnancy rates of marine mammals Nutritional status of seals Number of drowned mammals and waterbirds in fishing gears White-tailed eagle productivity Abundance of waterbirds in the wintering season Abundance of waterbirds in the breeding season Number of waterbirds being oiled annually Abundance of key fish species Abundance of fish key functional groups Proportion of large fish in the community Abundance of sea trout spawners and parr Abundance of salmon spawners and smolt Zooplankton mean size and total abundance State of the soft-bottom macrofauna communities Lower depth distribution limit of macrophyte species Population structure of long-lived macrozoobenthic species Cumulative impact on benthic habitats Extent, distribution and condition of benthic biotopes Trends in arrival of new non-indigenous species Fish diseases– a fish stress indicator Reproductive disorders: Malformed eelpout and amphipod embryos Imposex in snails

Follow-up system for Baltic state of the environment?? Populations +habitats Alien species Commercially exploited fish Food web Eutrophication Contaminants Litter Noise Mammals [3] New NIS [1] Fish stocks [3] Fish stocks [3] Seals [1] Oxygen [1] POPs [8] Floating, seabed, beaches, micro, ingested Impulsive + Background noise Birds [1] Transparency [1] Metals [1] Birds [3] Fish community [1] Fish community [1] Nutrients [1] Cs-137[1] Coastal fish [1] Coastal fish [1] Chlorophyll [1] Bioeffects [4] Bioeffects [4] Anadromousl fish [2] Anadromousfish [2] Coastal fish [1] Coastal fish [1] It would be interesting to have  a closer look at an coherence of all fish indicators Macrozoo-benthos [2] Zooplankton [1] Macrophytes [1] Habitats [2]

How the core indicators cover MSFD criteria?

State of the monitoring Mammals [3] Monitoring in place, only coordination Bird populations [2] Monitoring in place, only coordination and recognition of voluntary monitoring Oiled birds Setting up a few (selected) sites in the Baltic Bycaught birds and mammals Setting up a monitoring method Coastal fish [2] Monitoring in place, DCF data to support Anadromousfish [2] Monitoring in place, models to support Fish community Monitoring in place, ICES-HELCOM coord. Fish stocks [3] Monitoring in place, ICES-HELCOM coord. Macrozoobenthos [2] Monitoring in place, method development Macrophytes [1] Gaps in monitoring Compilation of pressure data, periodic biotope assessments Habitats [2] Zooplankton [1] Monitoring in place New NIS [1] Supported by port surveys

State of marine biodiversity monitoring Photo: Metsähallitus

Revision of HELCOM monitoring strategy 2005 Monitoring and Assessment Strategy (http://www.helcom.fi/groups/monas/en_GB/monitoring_strategy/) 2004 Data and Information Strategy (http://www.helcom.fi/groups/monas/en_GB/datastrategy/) Objectives in the revision process: Support monitoring of core indicators (new parameters) Cost-efficiency: joint cruises, specialization of institutes, responsible expert groups (updates, data flows, quality control, assessment products) Thematic assessments, assessment tools Leads to revised monitoring guidelines (COMBINE) Timeline: strategy ready in mid-2013, then to the guidelines..

Strategic map of HELCOM Monitoring and Assessment Well-informed decision making Cost-efficiency High quality Coordination and shared responsibilities Governance Adaptation Monitoring and assessment system that enables measuring progress towards the jointly agreed targets Monitoring and assessment system which enables evaluation of the effectiveness of measures Optimisation of the use of natinal resources through a regional coordination system Maximisation of synergies through joint activities, specialisation and shared responsibilities: 9*1<9 Scientifically sound, fit for purpose and timely assessment products High quality data and assessments through common methods and rigourous QA and QC Streamlined processes for monitoring, data flows and assessments Processes and structures for good coordination of national activities with the aim to reach optimisation regionally Joint activities, surveys and campaigns Specialisation and sharing HELCOM expert groups responsible for assessment processes Use of HELCOM as the coordination and optimising platform of national monitoring Sufficient funding for the coordination activities and implementation of the optimised system Simple indicators to follow the implementation of the Strategy e.g. number of joint activities Review of the Strategy as needs be based on the follow-up information

HELCOM assessment tool for biodiversity assessments The preliminary HELCOM Biodiversity Assessment Tool (BEAT) was used in the Initial Holistic Assessment in 2010. It consists of: Indicators nested in ’themes’ (e.g. populations, communities, habitats), Reference condition + Acceptable deviation, Weighting of individual indicators, Five classes, One-out-all-out principle among ’themes’, Confidence rating of indicators, ’target’ and data Revision of the tool according to MSFD requirements: new target setting, new themes, 2 classes?, etc. Photo: S. Korpinen

Modelling approaches in monitoring and assessments Baltic SeaAction Plan: motivates to find modelling approaches. The BALANCE and EUSeaMap habitat models used in benthic assessments. Noise model in LIFE+ BIAS project 2013-2014 Modelled targets for water transparency, oxygen + nutrients: TARGREV ensemble modelling. Revised nutrient reduction scheme in 2013. Photo: Metsähallitus

Photo: Jannica Haldin