AMBI and Bentix are widely used benthic indices for guiding remediation decisions under two major pieces of environmental legislation in Europe—the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). These indices usually incorporate all living marine benthic invertebrates in a sample. Some recent studies, however, have applied these benthic indices to only mollu...

A set of methodological tools were tested in order to assess the eutrophication quality of selected coastal areas in Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Greece, in the context of the Water Framework Directive under various anthropogenic pressures. Three, five-step tools, namely, TRIX, chlorophyll-a (chl-a) biomass classification scheme, and eutrophication index (E.I.) were applied in oligotrophic waters...

The ecological quality status (EcoQ) of intertidal mudflats constrained by Pacific oyster farming was assessed by single (H', AMBI, BENTIX and BOPA) and multimetric (M-AMBI and average score) index approaches in the Pertuis Charentais (SW France). Fifteen sampling stations were monitored seasonally for sedimentological features and macrozoobenthos in 2004. Sediments affected by oyster biodeposi...

In the context of the application of WFD, a scientific debate is growing about the applicability of biotic indices in coastal and transitional waters. In the present work, the question about the discriminating power of different biotic indices and the relationships with the structure and functioning of the macrobenthic community in a transitional environment is discussed. A time series of sampl...

This study aimed to assess ecological quality status of hard substratum macroinvertebrates communities of the Caspian Sea with three ecological indices and their relation with environmental factors. For this purpose benthic communities of the Caspian Sea basin were studied seasonally during 2014 in 8 sampling sites. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate, nitrite, silicate and pho...

This study aimed to assess ecological quality status of hard substratum macroinvertebrates communities of the Caspian Sea with three ecological indices and their relationship with environmental factors. For this purpose, benthic communities of the Caspian Sea basin were studied seasonally during 2014 in 8 sampling sites. Temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate, nitrite, silicate an...

Using recent indices developed, in part, for use under the European Water Framework Directive (AMBI, BENTIX, BOPA, BQI, I2EC and the trophic index ITI), the ecological quality status of two highly contaminated environments--the Bay of Seine and the Seine estuary (Eastern English Channel)--was determined on several spatial and temporal scales. Data from 604 observations gathered over a 14-year p...