The Benthic Ecosystem Quality Index (BEQI), intercalibration and assessment of Dutch coastal and transitional waters for the Water Framework Directive: Final report
Van Hoey, G.; Drent, J.; Ysebaert, T.J.; Herman, P.M.J. (2007). The Benthic Ecosystem Quality Index (BEQI), intercalibration and assessment of Dutch coastal and transitional waters for the Water Framework Directive: Final report. NIOO Rapporten, 2007-02. NIOO: The Netherlands. 244 pp.
Part of: NIOO Rapporten. NIOO: Yerseke. ISSN 1381-6519
The Benthic Ecosystem Quality Index (BEQI), has been developed by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology on behalf of the Rijkswaterstaat/Institute for Coastal and Marine Management. It is based on an ecosystem functioning approach (Ysebaert & Herman, 2004), which aims to give an indication about ecosystem structure and functioning, and about biological relationships. BEQI evaluates at the scale of a whole water body, contrary to methods applied by other member states that evaluate the ecological status per sampling station. The Dutch monitoring system of water bodies (MWTL) and ecological monitoring (since the nineties) also aims to assess the status of a water body as a whole. The initial developed BEQI method (2004) was compared with other Member States WFD Benthos methods under development and valuated as the most appropriate to develop further and to apply to all Dutch coastal and transitional water bodies the BEQI method for WFD benthos classification.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy
