Report on the integration of OSPAR Food Webs Indicators into the NEAT tool. EcApRHA Deliverable WP 3.5
Haraldsson, M.; Arroyo, N.L.; Capuzzo, E.; Claquin, P.; Kromkamp, J.; Niquil, N.; Ostle, C.; Preciado, I.; Safi, G. (2017). Report on the integration of OSPAR Food Webs Indicators into the NEAT tool. EcApRHA Deliverable WP 3.5. [S.n.]: [s.l.]. ISBN 9781911458289. 43 pp.
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| Authors | | Top |
- Haraldsson, M.
- Arroyo, N.L.
- Capuzzo, E.
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- Claquin, P.
- Kromkamp, J.
- Niquil, N.
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- Ostle, C.
- Preciado, I.
- Safi, G.
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| Abstract |
Executive SummaryThe main goal within the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is to achieve an ecosystem“Good Environmental Status” (GES). To go from indicator to ecosystem assessment, the Food Webs groupof the EcApRHA project (applying an Ecosystem Approach to (sub) Regional Habitat Assessments) suggestedto use the NEAT tool (http://www.devotes‐project.eu/neat/). NEAT is a free software tool designed to run aholistic status assessment including multiple indicators. To demonstrate its feasibility, our focus is on theintegration of two of the food webs indicators being developed for use within the North‐East Atlanticthrough OSPAR to support MSFD implementation “primary production” and “mean trophic level”. It shouldbe noted that in principle more indicators could be added in future.To run an assessment using multiple indicators in NEAT, the critical information needed is the definition ofa reference value for each indicator, which indicates GES, suggestively through expert knowledge. It isworth noting that the reference values that are proposed in this report are calculated for the purposes ofdemonstrating the NEAT tool and do not represent any agreement of reference values by EuropeanMember States within OSPAR.The result of the NEAT assessment is a value that indicates the environmental status for each spatialassessment unit, which is a value integrating all indicators considered. Per our present knowledge, theNEAT tool is currently one of the best statistical tools available for integrating multiple indicators. Thebiggest challenge encountered was to define the requested reference value and surrounding boundariesfor each indicator, which involved integrating information from experts’ knowledge and literature. It isworth noting however, that within the current revised Commission Decision (2010/477/EU), the EuropeanCommission expects each member state to define the reference value for GES(https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better‐regulation/initiatives/ares‐2016‐5301702_en). |
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