A national water quality classification system for surface waters based on type-specific reference conditions that fulfils the EU WFD requirements was established in Estonia in early 2007. The main objective of the current study was to test the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) indicators included in the Estonian national assessment scheme against most commonly used parameters applied to describe the eutrophication situation. The aim was to detect possible regional differences in indicator response and to contribute to further development of those indicators. Depth distribution of phytobenthos, depth distribution of Fucus vesiculosus, and proportion of perennial plant species are currently used as SAV-related water quality indicators in the Estonian national system. All three indicators showed the strongest correlation with water transparency. The Southeastern Gulf of Finland was the water type showing in most cases the strongest relationship between eutrophication variables and the three tested SAV indicators. The performance between the tested variables was poorest in Pärnu Bay and the Väinameri area. Revision of the used indicator system is needed in these areas.
Anonymous. 2000. Directive 200/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy. Official Journal, L 327/1.
Bäck, S. & Ruuskanen, A. 2000. Distribution and maximum growth depth of Fucus vesiculosus along the Gulf of Finland. Mar. Biol., 136, 303–307.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s002270050688
Cloern, J. E. 2001. Our evolving conceptual model of the coastal eutrophication problem. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 210, 223–253.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps210223
Coops, H., Kerkum, F. C. M., van den Berg, M. S. & van Splunder, I. 2007. Submerged macrophyte vegetation and the European Water Framework Directive: assessment of status and trends in shallow, alkaline lakes in the Netherlands. Hydrobiologia, 584, 395–402.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0586-9
Duarte, C. M. 1991. Seagrass depth limits. Aquat. Bot., 40, 363–377.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3770(91)90081-F
Duarte, C. M. 1995. Submerged aquatic vegetation in relation to different nutrient regimes. Ophelia, 41, 87–112.
HELCOM. 2003. The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme (JCP) – Ten years of implementation. Balt. Sea Environ. Proc., 88.
HELCOM. 2009. Eutrophication in the Baltic Sea – an integrated thematic assessment of the effects of nutrient enrichment and eutrophication in the Baltic Sea region. Balt. Sea Environ. Proc., 115B.
Kautsky, H. 1988. Factors Structuring Phytobenthic Communities in the Baltic Sea. Akademitryk, Stockholm.
Kautsky, H. 1989. Quantitative Distribution of Plant and Animal Communities of the Phytobenthic Zone in the Baltic Sea. Askö Laboratory, Sweden.
Kautsky, H., Martin, G., Mäkinen, A., Borgiel, M., Vahteri, P. & Rissanen, J. 1999. Structure of phytobenthic and associated animal communities in the Gulf of Riga. Hydrobiologia, 393, 191–200.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1003510105274
Kotta, J., Lauringson, V., Martin, G., Simm, M., Kotta, I., Herkül, K. & Ojaveer, H. 2008. Gulf of Riga and Pärnu Bay. In Ecology of Baltic Coastal Waters (Schiewer, U., ed.), pp. 217–243. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73524-3_10
Krause-Jensen, D., Greve, T. M. & Nielsen, K. 2005. Eelgrass as a bioindicator under the European Water Framework Directive. Water Resour. Manag., 19, 63–75.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11269-005-0293-0
Krause-Jensen, D., Carstensen, J. & Dahl, K. 2007. Total and opportunistic algal cover in relation to environmental variables. Mar. Poll. Bull., 55(1–6), 114–125.
Kuuppo, P., Blauw, A., Møhlenberg, F., Kaas, H., Henriksen, P., Krause-Jensen, D., Ærtebjerg, G., Bäck, S., Erftemeijer, P., Caspar, M., Carvalho, S. & Heiskanen, A.-S. 2006. Nutrients
and eutrophication in coastal and transitional waters. In Indicators and Methods for the Ecological Status Assessment under the Water Framework Directive (Solimini, A. G., Cardoso, A. C. & Heiskanen, A.-S., eds), pp. 33–80. European Communities.
Lips, U. 2005. Eesti rannikumere looduslikud tüübid ja veekvaliteedi klassid. Eesti Mereakad. Toim., 2, 62–73.
Martin, G. 2000. Phytobenthic Communities of the Gulf of Riga and the Inner Sea of the West-Estonian Archipelago. Tartu University Press, Tartu.
Nielsen, S. L., Sand-Jensen, K., Borum, J. & Geertz-Hansen, O. 2002. Depth colonisation of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and macroalgae as determined by water transparency in Danish coastal waters. Estuaries, 5, 1025–1032.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02691349
Ofranidis, S., Panayotidis, P. & Stamatis, N. 2001. Ecological evaluation of transitional and coastal waters: a marine benthic macrophytes-based model. Mediterranean Marine Science, 2/2, 45–65.
Schories, D., Pehlke, C. & Selig, U. 2009. Depth distributions of Fucus vesiculosus L. and Zostera marina L. as classification parameters for implementing the European Water Framework Directive on the German Baltic coast. Ecol. Indic., 9, 670–680.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.08.010
Selig, U., Eggert, A., Schories, D., Schubert, M., Blümel, C. & Schubert, H. 2007. Ecological classification of macroalgae and angiosperm communities of inner coastal waters in the southern Baltic Sea. Ecol. Indic., 7, 665–678.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2006.07.006
StatSoft. 2010. Electronic Statistics Textbook. Tulsa.
Steinhardt, T., Karez, R., Selig, U. & Schubert, H. 2009. The German procedure for the assessment of ecological status in relation to the biological quality element “Macroalgae & Angiosperms” pursuant to the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) for inner coastal waters of the Batic Sea. Rostock. Meeresbiolog. Beitr., 22, 7–42.
Suursaar, Ü., Kullas, T. & Otsmann, M. 2001. The influence of currents and waves on ecological conditions of the Väinameri. Proc. Estonian Acad. Sci. Biol. Ecol., 50, 231–247.
Torn, K. & Martin, G. 2011. Assessment method for the ecological status of Estonian coastal waters based on submerged aquatic vegetation. In Sustainable Development and Planning (Brebbia, C. A. & Beriatos, E., eds), pp. 443–452. WIT Press, Southampton, Boston.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2495/SDP110371
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2005.07.011
