The European Union Water Framework Directive requires that all member states assess the status of their coastal areas and develop or use existing classification systems to support future monitoring. To set the quality assessment system for the Estonian coastal sea, the composition of modern zoobenthic communities was compared to the communities from the 1950s–1960s. Sensitivity values of benthic taxa were determined, and the macrozoobenthic community index ZKI and boundaries for the classification system were developed. The ZKI index was further validated against nutrient loads and the spatial location relative to pressure, represented by the Baltic Sea Pressure Index (BSPI). High variability in Ecological Quality Ratio assessment results was found for both ZKI and brackish water benthic index (BBI) based assessments. However, in the study area, ZKI assessments fluctuated to a smaller extent and displayed a better correlation with the BSPI than the BBI assessments.
Bolliger, J. & Mladenoff, D. J. 2005. Quantifying spatial classification uncertainties of the historical Wisconsin landscape (USA). Ecography, 28, 141–156.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0906-7590.2005.03955.x
Bonsdorff, E. & Pearson, T. H. 1999. Variation in the sublittoral macrozoobenthos of the Baltic Sea along environmental gradients; a functional-group approach. Aust. J. Ecol., 24, 312–326.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1442-9993.1999.00986.x
Bonsdorff, E., Aarnio, K. & Sandberg, E. 1991. Temporal and spatial variability of zoobenthic communities in archipelago waters of the Northern Baltic Sea – consequences of eutrophication? Int. Rev. Hydrobiol., 76, 433–449.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/iroh.19910760316
Bonsdorff, E., Diaz, R. J., Norkko, A. & Cutter, G. R. 1996. Characterization of soft-bottom benthic habitats of the Åland Islands, northern Baltic Sea. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 142, 235–245.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps142235
Bonsdorff, E., Blomqvist, E. M., Mattila, J. & Norkko, A. 1997a. Coastal eutrophication: causes, consequences and perspectives in the archipelago areas of the northern Baltic Sea. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 44 (Suppl. A), 63–72.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7714(97)80008-X
Bonsdorff, E., Blomqvist, E. M., Mattila, J. & Norkko, A. 1997b. Long-term changes and coastal eutrophication. Examples from the Åland Islands and the Archipelago Sea, northern Baltic Sea. Oceanol. Acta, 20, 319–328.
Borja, A., Miles, A., Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A. & Berg, T. 2009. Current status of macroinvertebrate methods used for assessing the quality of European marine waters: implementing the Water Framework Directive. Hydrobiologia, 633, 181–196.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9881-y
Clarke, K. R. & Gorley, R. N. 2006. Primer v6. User Manual/Tutorial. Primer-E, Plymouth.
Conley, D. J., Carstensen, J., Aigars, J., Axe, P., Bonsdorff, E., Eremina, T., Haahti, B.-M., Humborg, C., Jonsson, P., Kotta, J., Lännegren, C., Larsson, U., Maximov, A., Rodriguez Medina, M., Lysiak-Pastuszak, E., Remeikaité-Nikiené, N., Walve, J., Wilhelms, S. & Zillén, L. 2011. Hypoxia is increasing in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea. Environ. Sci. Technol., 45, 6777–6783.
Dauvin, J.-C. 2007. Paradox of estuarine quality: benthic indicators and indices, consensus or debate for the future. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 55, 271–281.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2006.08.017
Elliott, M. & Quintino, V. 2007. The estuarine quality paradox, environmental homeostasis and the difficulty of detecting anthropogenic stress in naturally stressed areas. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 54, 640–645.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.02.003
Eriksson, B. K., Johansson, G. & Snoeijs, P. 1998. Long-term changes in the sublittoral zonation of brown algae in the southern Bothnian Sea. Eur. J. Phycol., 33(3), 241–249.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09670269810001736743
European Commission. 2000. Directive2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy. OJL, 327, 1–72.
Fleischer, D. & Zettler, M. L. 2009. An adjustment of benthic ecological quality assessment to effects of salinity. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 58, 351–357.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.10.016
HELCOM. 2010. Towards a tool for quantifying anthropogenic pressures and potential impacts on the Baltic Sea marine environment: a background document on the method, data and testing of the Baltic Sea Pressure and Impact Indices. Balt. Sea Environ. Proc., 125, 1–72.
Järvekülg, A. 1970. Bottom fauna as an indicator of pollution of the marine benthal in the vicinity of Tallinn. In Estonian Contributions to the International Biological Programme, vol. 1, 158–193. Academy of Sciences of the Estonian S.S.R., Tartu.
Josefson, A. B., Blomqvist, M., Hansen, J. L. S., Rosenberg, R. & Rygg, B. 2009. Assessment of marine benthic quality change in gradients of disturbance: comparison of different Scandinavian multi-metric indices. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 58, 1263–1277.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.05.008
Karlson, K., Rosenberg, R. & Bonsdorff, E. 2002. Temporal and spatial large-scale effects of eutrophication and oxygen deficiency on benthic fauna in Scandinavian and Baltic waters – a review. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev., 40, 427–489.
Kotta, J. & Kotta, I. 1995. The state of macrozoobenthos of Pärnu Bay in 1991 as compared to 1959–1960. Proc. Estonian Acad. Sci., Ecol., 5, 26–37.
Kotta, J. & Møhlenberg, F. 2002. Grazing impact of Mytilus edulis and Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas) in the Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea estimated from biodeposition rates of algal pigments. Ann. Zool. Fenn., 39, 151–160.
Kotta, J. & Ólafsson, E. 2003. Competition for food between the introduced exotic polychaete Marenzelleria viridis and the resident native amphipod Monoporeia affinis in the Baltic Sea. J. Sea Res., 342, 27–35.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1385-1101(03)00041-8
Kotta, J., Orav, H. & Sandberg-Kilpi, E. 2001. Ecological consequence of the introduction of the polychaete Marenzelleria viridis into a shallow water biotope of the northern Baltic Sea. J. Sea Res., 46, 273–280.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1385-1101(01)00088-0
Kotta, J., Simm, M., Kotta, I., Kanošina, I., Kallaste, K. & Raid, T. 2004. Factors controlling long-term changes of the eutrophicated ecosystem of Pärnu Bay, Gulf of Riga. Hydrobiologia, 514, 259–268.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:hydr.0000018224.56324.44
Kotta, J., Kotta, I., Simm, M., Lankov, A., Lauringson, V., Põllumäe, A. & Ojaveer, H. 2006. Ecological consequences of biological invasions: three invertebrate case studies in the north-eastern Baltic Sea. Helgol. Mar. Res., 60, 106–112.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10152-006-0027-6
Kotta, J., Lauringson, V. & Kotta, I. 2007. Response of zoobenthic communities to changing eutrophication in the northern Baltic Sea. Hydrobiologia, 580, 97–108.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-006-0462-z
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. Ecol. Stud., 197. Springer.
Kotta, J., Herkül, K., Kotta, I., Orav-Kotta, H. & Aps, R. 2009. Response of benthic invertebrate communities to the large-scale dredging of Muuga Port. Estonian J. Ecol., 58, 286–296.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3176/eco.2009.4.04
Kotta, J., Orav-Kotta, H. & Herkül, K. 2010. Separate and combined effects of habitat specific fish predation on the survival of invasive and native gammarids. J. Sea Res., 64, 369–372.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2010.05.006
Kovtun, A., Torn, K. & Kotta, J. 2009. Long-term changes in a northern Baltic macrophyte community. Estonian J. Ecol., 58, 270–285.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3176/eco.2009.4.03
Kröncke, I. & Reiss, H. 2010. Influence of macrofauna long-term natural variability on benthic indices used in ecological quality assessment. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 60, 58–68.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.09.001
Lauringson, V. & Kotta, J. 2006. Influence of the thin drift algal mats on the distribution of macrozoobenthos in Kõiguste Bay, NE Baltic Sea. Hydrobiologia, 554, 97–105.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-005-1009-4
Lauringson, V., Kotta, J., Kersen, P., Leisk, Ü., Orav-Kotta, H. & Kotta, I. 2012. Use case of biomass-based benthic invertebrate index for brackish waters in connection to climate and eutrophication. Ecol. Indic., 12, 123–132.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.04.009
Leonardsson, K., Blomqvist, M. & Rosenberg, R. 2009. Theoretical and practical aspects on benthic quality assessment according to the EU Water Framework Directive – examples from Swedish waters. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 58, 1286–1296.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.05.007
Leppäkoski, E. 1975. Assessment of degree of pollution on the basis of macrozoobenthos in marine and brackish-water environments. Acta Acad. Aboensis, Ser. B Math. Phys., 35, 1–90.
Munari, C. & Mistri, M. 2010. Towards the application of the Water Framework Directive in Italy: assessing the potential of benthic tools in Adriatic coastal transitional ecosystems. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 60, 1040–1050.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.01.022
Ojaveer, H., Kotta, J., Põllumäe, A., Põllupüü, M., Jaanus, A. & Vetemaa, M. 2011. Alien species in a brackish water temperate ecosystem: annual-scale dynamics in response to environmental variability. Environ. Res., 111, 933–942.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2011.03.002
Orav-Kotta, H. & Kotta, J. 2004. Food and habitat choice of the isopod Idotea baltica in the northeastern Baltic Sea. Hydrobiologia, 514, 79–85.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:hydr.0000018208.72394.09
Orav-Kotta, H., Kotta, J. & Kotta, I. 2004. Comparison of macrozoobenthic communities between the 1960s and the 1990s–2000s in the Väinameri, NE Baltic Sea. Proc. Estonian Acad. Sci. Biol. Ecol., 53, 283–291.
Paalme, T., Kukk, H., Kotta, J. & Orav, H. 2002. “In vitro” and “in situ” decomposition of nuisance macroalgae Cladophora glomerata and Pilayella littoralis. Hydrobiologia, 475/476, 469–476.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1020364114603
Pearson, T. H. & Rosenberg, R. 1978. Macrobenthic succession in relation to organic enrichment and pollution of the marine environment. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev., 16, 229–311.
Perus, J., Bonsdorff, E., Bäck, S., Lax, H. G., Villnäs, A. & Westberg, V. 2007. Zoobenthos as indicators of ecological status in coastal brackish waters: a comparative study from the Baltic Sea. Ambio, 36, 250–256.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[250:ZAIOES]2.0.CO;2
R Development Core Team. 2011. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria (http://www.R-project.org/) (visited 15.09.2011).
Rönnberg, C. & Bonsdorff, E. 2004. Baltic Sea eutrophication: area-specific ecological consequences. Hydrobiologia, 514, 227–241.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000019238.84989.7f
Rosenberg, R. 1985. Eutrophication – the future marine coastal nuisance? Mar. Pollut. Bull., 16, 227–231.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0025-326X(85)90505-3
Southworth, J., Munroe, D. & Nagendra, H. 2004. Land cover change and landscape fragmentation – comparing the utility of continuous and discrete analyses for a western Honduras region. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ., 101, 185–205.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2003.09.011
StatSoft, Inc. 2011. Electronic Statistics Textbook. StatSoft, Tulsa, OK (http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/) (visited 15.09.2011).
Torn, K. & Martin, G. 2011. Assessment method for the ecological status of Estonian coastal waters based on submerged aquatic vegetation. WIT Trans. Ecol. Environ., 150, 443–452.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2495/SDP110371
Veber, T., Kotta, J., Lauringson, V. & Kotta, I. 2009. Influence of the local abiotic environment, weather and regional nutrient loading on macrobenthic invertebrate feeding groups in a shallow brackish water ecosystem. Oceanologia, 51, 541–559.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5697/oc.51-4.541
Voipio, A. (ed.). 1981. The Baltic Sea. Elsevier Oceanography Series, 30. Elsevier, Burlington, MA.
Zettler, M. L., Schiedek, D. & Bobertz, B. 2007. Benthic biodiversity indices versus salinity gradient in the southern Baltic Sea. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 55, 258–270.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2006.08.024