Abstract

GABRIEL, Daniela; MICAEL, Joana; PARENTE, Manuela I.  and  COSTA, Ana C.. Adaptation of macroalgal indexes to evaluate the ecological quality of coastal waters in oceanic islands with subtropical influence: the Azores (Portugal). RGCI [online]. 2014, vol.14, n.2, pp.175-184. ISSN 1646-8872.  https://doi.org/10.5894/rgci465.

Due to their sedentary characteristic and the sensibility of certain taxa to excessive nutrients or toxic substances, the benthic macroalgal assemblage of a given locality reflects the effects of long-term exposure to pollution. For this reason, seaweeds have been used to assess the environmental condition of coastal communities. Since the Water Framework Directive from the European Union (WFD/EU) was launched, several ecological indexes have been developed for ecological quality assessment and monitoring. Those indexes are based on different features that can be easily observed and combined into a single value, which in turn is translated to stakeholders as an ecological status.

Keywords : Water Framework Directive; Oceanic Islands; Ecological Quality Index; Macroalgae.

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