Author(s)

T. Rieling, S. Sagert, M Bahnwart, U. Selig & H Schubert

Abstract

Definition of seasonal phytoplankton events for analysis of long term data from coastal waters of the southern Baltic Sea with respect to the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive T. Rieling, S. Sagert, M. Balmwart, U. Selig & H. Schubert Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Rostock, Germany. Abstract The key feature of the European Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD) is to measure water quality with respect to ecological categories, i.e. in terms of the community structure and functioning of natural ecosystems. For the use of phytoplankton data in comparative ecosystem assessment it is important to compare similar seasonal phytoplankton stages since phytoplankton runs through different succession stages throughout the year, all characterised by differences in biomass and taxonomical composition. In this paper calculable seasonal markers are suggested from the analysis of a long term data set indicating important successional stages at different types of coastal waters

Keywords