Water Bodies in Europe: Integrated Systems to assess Ecological Status and Recovery Funded under FP7, Theme 6: Environment (including Climate Change) Contract No.:

A reminder: What WISER is about Overview of the project’s progress Overview of assessment methods Guidelines for indicator development Development of common metrics Next steps Contents

A reminder: What WISER is about Overview of the project’s progress Overview of assessment methods Guidelines for indicator development Development of common metrics Next steps Contents

1 Management, coordination and reporting 7 Dissemination 2.1 Data service 2.2 Review Rivers Lakes Coastal/trans Rivers 5.1 Effects of management and global change Lakes 5.2 Effects of management and global change Coastal/trans. 5.3 Effects of management and global change 6.1 Uncertainty 6.2 Combination of organism groups 6.3 Cross water categories comparison 6.4 Comparison of recovery processes

A reminder: What WISER is about Overview of the project’s progress Overview of assessment methods Guidelines for indicator development Development of common metrics Next steps Contents

Field work -Continue field sampling programmes in Modules 3 and 4 -Start entering new field data into project database Existing data -Finalise overall project database structure and individual WP’s database structures -Establish standard taxalists for all BQEs -Acquire external data and feed them into WP databases Cooperation with GIGs and ECOSTAT -Develop guidelines for the development of common metrics and assessment methods -Start developing IC metrics in cooperation with GIGs -Compile pan-European report/database on existing national assessment schemes for all water categories and BQEs Overall aims in the last six months

Lake sampling campaign 82600Number of lakes remaining Number of lakes sampled Numer of lakes BIASMAPP 18 lakes are sampled for all BQEs 90% of sampling finished in 2009

Coastal / transitional waters

Number of replicate samples (existing data not included) 2712 TW/CWVarna Bay TWLesina Lagoon 1812CWBalearic Islands TWMondego CWBasque Country 12CWHelsinki Bay 27CWOrwell & Stour 12CW Oslofjord/Skagerrak FIBIASMAPPLocation TW/CWTotal

Data flow WP 3.1 WP 3.2 WP 3.3 WP L- C Partners' datasets 53-LR-C 78-L- NC WP 5.1 WP 4.1 WP 4.2 WP 4.3 WP 4.4 Workpackage datasets Central database Meta- database Metadata for each dataset WP 5.1 WP 5.2 WP 5.3 WP 6.1 WP 6.2 WP 6.3 WP 6.4 New data

Structure of central project database finalised in Oracle Tools and guidelines for handling database issues provided to all workpackages All workpackage databases are under construction Database status

A reminder: What WISER is about Overview of the project’s progress Overview of assessment methods Guidelines for indicator development Development of common metrics Next steps Contents

Questionnaire on biological assessment methods - joint activity of IC Steering Group and WISER (Part of the “Guidance on the Intercalibration Process ”) Overview of assessment methods

252 Methods described, covering 26 countries 83 river methods 74 lake methods 98 coastal and transitional water methods 58 plankton methods 62 macrophyte / angiosperm / macroalgae methods 72 invertebrate methods 39 fish methods Response to questionnaire

Basis for IC Milestone 2 reporting (data compilation already delivered to the various GIGs) Original data provided in text form as Deliverable (available on the project’s homepage) Interactive database under construction, as part of the project’s homepage. Will be online by end of April Data on additional methods most welcome! Availability of data

A reminder: What WISER is about Overview of the project’s progress Overview of assessment methods Guidelines for indicator development Development of common metrics Next steps Contents

To guide and harmonize the rapid and preliminary development of common metrics by early 2010 among the WISER workpackages To guide and harmonize the development of assessment methodologies among the relevant WISER workpackages Aims

Setting Identification of candidate metrics Testing the relationship of candidate metrics and national assessment methods Testing the relationship of candidate metrics and stress gradients Testing the robustness of candidate metrics Metric selection Normalisation of metrics Combination to a multimetric index Documentation Methodology for developing common metrics

Metric selection -Metric calculation -Exclusion of numerically unsuitable metrics -Definition of a stressor gradient -Correlation of stressor gradients and metrics -Selection of candidate metrics -Selection of core metrics -Distribution of metrics within the metric types -Metric normalisation Generation of a Multimetric Index Setting class boundaries Uncertainty estimation Methodology for developing assessment methods

A reminder: What WISER is about Overview of the project’s progress Overview of assessment methods Guidelines for indicator development Development of common metrics Next steps Contents

Intercalibration: Decision of IC option and common metrics by April 2010 WISER: Most assessment methods to be developed by February 2012 Solution: All WISER workpackages will suggest common metrics (or other suited methods) by spring / summer 2010, based on: Mismatch of intercalibration and WISER schedules

Status of common metric development: Lakes All GIGs, in particular N-GIG and CB-GIG May 2010 (tax. composition) 2011 (age structure) Fish N-GIG, CB-GIG, A-Gig, (Med-GIG, EC-GIG) June 2010Invertebrates N-GIG, CB-GIG, A-GIG, (Med-GIG, EC-GIG) EarlierAutumn 2010Macrophytes N-GIG, CB-GIG, Med-GIG, EC-GIG May 2010 (tax. composition) August (blooms) Autumn 2010Phytoplankton GIGs coveredDraft available by Common metric developed by BQE

Status of common metric development: Coastal and transitional waters All GIGs, in particular N-GIG and CB-GIG May 2010 (tax. composition) 2011 (age structure) Fish NEA-GIG (may be also MED- GIG) August 2010 (response of single metrics and combination of metrics) Invertebrates Black Sea-GIG, Med-GIG, Baltic- GIG, Northern NEA-GIG, Southern NEA-GIG September 2010 (preliminary) Macroalgae, angiosperms Baltic-GIG, Black Sea-GIG August 2010 (size distribution and taxonomic composition) Phytoplankton GIGs covered Common metric developed by BQE

Status Common metric for abundance (chlorophyll a) has been intercalibrated Common metrics for impacts on composition, size- spectra, evenness and cyanobacteria required Data 17,000 samples 19 countries 1,734 lakes N-GIG CB-GIG - 96 Med-GIG - 30 EC-GIG Example: Lake phytoplankton

Group of 10 WISER and GIG researchers to develop: Phytoplankton Composition Metrics (2 candidates) -Phytoplankton Trophic Index (PTI) -Morpho-functional groups and size classes Metrics for bloom frequency and intensity -Evenness -Cyanobacteria Bloom Metric Example: Lake phytoplankton

Phytoplankton Trophy Index (PTI) vs. TP (all lakes) Example: Lake phytoplankton

Quantile regression curves for cyanobacteria biovolume and phosphorus (fitted with a sigmoid non-linear curve) Example: Lake phytoplankton

Next steps: Further analyses to explore the strength of the relationships between metrics and TP concentration for separate GIGs and major lake types Examine variability in reference lakes Test differences between reference and impacted lakes Examine temporal variability Discussion on GIG meetings (late May) Deliverable on phytoplankton composition metrics (June) Deliverable on bloom metrics (August) Example: Lake phytoplankton

A reminder: What WISER is about Overview of the project’s progress Overview of assessment methods Guidelines for indicator development Development of common metrics Next steps Contents

Fieldwork Finalize fieldwork Finalize most of identification and data entry Data Finalize WP databases Connect WP databases to central database Metric development and data evaluation Finalize common metrics Start developing WISER suite of assessment systems Start uncertainty estimation exercise Main aims for next 6 months

Management and restoration Finalize databases Finalize conceptual models Start data evaluation and modelling Others Mid-term meeting (6-10/9/10) in Debe (Poland) Main aims for next 6 months

Dissemination materials