vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 1 habitat dynamics at the catchment-coast interface, a digest Aim To summarise ELOISE findings on the dynamics of European coastal habitats, including the open high sea, for a range of end users. TOC: approach / habitat? / findings / conclusions Jan Vermaat, Alison Gilbert Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 2 approach  ‘digest’: a brief review (20 pp)  material: published output of ELOISE projects  method: draft subject to electronic discussion and two review cycles (external + internal within the consortium).

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 3 habitat  Ecologists often use ‘habitat’ loosely in their M&M to indicate their working area  Textbooks offer different definitions: from ‘real places’ to ‘the spatial subdivision of the environment within an ecosystem into convenient units’ (Desmukh)  My favorite: Southwoods population-oriented approach, predictability in time and space scaled against life span and dispersal capacity

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 4 habitat typology  Several exist. For the EC a typology has been developed entitled ‘EUNIS’  Has developed into a legal entity, with phonebook lists of categories and their area.  We aggregated EUNIS into 8 categories

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 5 8 aggregate coastal habitat types  Cliffs, shingle beaches, kelp beds  Wetlands and dune complexes  Salt marsh  Sand-banks and mudflats  Seagrass beds  Lagoons  Subtidal sediments  Open sea pelagic

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 6 dynamics  We searched for ‘dynamics’ or variability,..  Within habitat: internal, due to physical forcing at different time scales, tides, seasons, pluvials (sequences of years)  Between habitats: transition, externally forced or internal and cyclic

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 7 findings: 6 lengthy tables  Much of ELOISE research has been devoted to biogeochemistry of nutrients, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (cf Ledoux et al.)  Still we found a substantial contribution: –Understanding natural dynamics (13 proj) –Understanding anthropogenic state change (27) –Provide indicators (13)

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 8 findings 2  Much of the work was focused on the open water,  particularly the upper fringe (cliffs, dunes and saltmarshes) was poorly represented in ELOISE projects

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 9 findings 3: what happens to these habitats?  Mostly related to increased human use, directly or indirectly { This is an excerpt of a DPSIR analysis, idenitfying major driving pressures and their impacts in different European coastal seas

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 10 findings 4: what have we learned?

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 11 conclusions  coastal research occurred outside ELOISE as well, but received less attention…  Most of the work has ‘increased our understanding’. A clear focus has been on biogeochemistry of pollution and effects on plankton and benthos.  Three habitat types have been studied most intensively: the pelagic, lagoons, and mudflats + sandbanks.  Salt marshes, coastal dunes + wetlands and cliffs were under-represented within ELOISE, as was the Atlantic seaboard.  Major ongoing societal change across the EU will enhance the pressures affecting the extent and quality of coastal ecosystems.

vrije Universiteit amsterdam ELOISE - Porto Roz Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) 12 gaps for future research  Comparative surveys of spatial pattern such as habitat mosaics and state transitions  The Atlantic seaboard and under-represented habitats  Fisheries and aquaculture effects  Europe-wide stock taking – research or monitoring -- EEA?  Disciplinary integration is ‘reaching secondary school stage’ but needs maturation Sweeping statement to close off: see the last paragraph of the digest ( policy/eloise/index.htm)