Development of a fish-based multimetric index to assess the ecological quality of marine habitats: the Marine Fish Community Index |
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Authors: | Henriques Sofia Pais Miguel Pessanha Costa Maria José Cabral Henrique |
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Institution: | a Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Centro de Oceanografia, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal b Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Campo Grande, 1746-016 Lisboa, Portugal |
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Abstract: | In this paper the Marine Fish Community Index (MFCI) for the assessment of ecological status of marine environment is proposed. The MFCI was divided into 4 typologies: Rocky subtidal; shallow, intermediate and deep soft-bottoms. Based on the typical community associated to each typology and the DPSIR analysis performed, a set of metrics were selected and tested through a multiple correlation matrix (Pearson’s coefficient) and the core ones included in the index. The MFCI was applied in all typologies and the scores obtained with each metric were analyzed. In order to test the robustness of the MFCI the final ecological value of each zone was recalculated by removing successively one metric at a time. The MFCI showed a sensitive and robust response in the ecological status assessment. Since it incorporates both functional and structural community information, the MFCI can be useful in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive as well as in other contexts of conservation and sustainable management of the marine environment. |
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Keywords: | Marine Fish Community Index (MFCI) Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Multimetric index Fish communities Ecological quality assessment Marine assemblages Portugal |
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