HELCOM Pre-core indicator Cumulative impacts on benthic biotopes - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

HELCOM Pre-core indicator

Cumulative impacts on benthic biotopes

Current developments and project results for the German Baltic Sea Birgit Heyden & Torsten Berg, MariLim

Status

• Indicator D6C3 MSFD, information on D6C1 and D6C2 as

additional benefit

• Indicator of high priority lead together by Germany and

Sweden (S&C 6-2017, recalled by S&C 7-2017)

• ‘Cumulative impact on benthic biotopes’ indicator (CumI)

as long-term target , BSII as interim solution for HOLAS II purposes (TAPAS benthic indicator WS 1-2016)

• Presentation of current developments S&C 7-2017, FISH 7-

2017 and IN-BENTHIC 2-2018

Basics

• Indicator assessment evaluates multiple physical pressures
• n the seafloor and its biotopes: fishing, dredging,

dumping, marine constructions

• Impacts are cumulative when there is spatial and temporal
• verlap
• Categorical approach based on matrix operations, partly

comparable with OSPAR BH3 indicator

Method/assessment procedure

Frequency Intensity Pressure Impact Resilience Resistance Sensitivity

• Individual impacts derived from

specific pressures combined with sensitivities

• Final cumulative impact on

benthic biotopes derived by intersecting individual impacts in sequence

Method/assessment procedure

• Biotope map as a basis (including abiotic and biotic components),

broad scale habitats with HUB level 4 as minimum requirement

• Classification of pressure magnitudes and pressure specific

sensitivities for the different biotopes used (matrix 1 and 2)

Magnitude of pressure intersection matrix Frequency persistent (more than three times per year or permanent) frequent (two to three times per year) regular (once per year)

• ccasional

(less than once per year) Intensity high (0.75–1) High High Moderate Moderate moderate (0.5–0.75) High Moderate Moderate Low low (0.25–0.5) Moderate Moderate Low Very low very low (0–0.25) Moderate Low Very low Very low

1

Sensitivity intersection matrix resilience very low (> 10 years) low (5–10 years) moderate (1–5 years) high (<1 year) resistance very low High High Moderate Moderate low High Moderate Moderate Low moderate Moderate Moderate Low Very low high Moderate Low Low Very low

2

Method/assessment procedure

• Transformation of pressures to impacts (matrix 3) by intersection of

magnitude of pressure and sensitivity

3

Method/assessment procedure

• Cumulation process by pairwise intersection (matrix 4) of individual

impacts

4

Sensitivities + pressures = impact

Pressure specific sensitivities:

• Abrasion/penetration divided into surface (≤ 2.5 cm) and subsurface (> 2.5 cm)
• Based on compilation by ICES WKFBI to resistance, resilience and sensitivity

German test case results 2017

• Main impacts from fisheries, secondary impacts from dredging,

dumping, extraction and constructions

• In most cases areas of ‘very low’ and ‘low’ impacts correspond to

NATURA 2000 sites

Ongoing adjustments

• Increase of impact classes from 4 to 7 (5 of them for significant

impacts divided in 3 moderate and 2 high classes) according to the required separation of loss and disturbance

• Testing of different buffering procedures and influence on assessment

results

very high loss high disturbance m3 disturbance m2 disturbance m1 disturbance low low disturbance very low very low disturbance high moderate

Boundary of significant impacts

Adjusted matrices

Matrix 3: differentiation of resulting impact classes to refine assessment

• f disturbance and separate it from loss

Impact intersection matrix Magnitude of pressure High Moderate Low Very low Sensitivity High High/vh High/h Moderate/m2 Moderate/m1 Moderate High/h Moderate/m3 Moderate/m1 Low Low Moderate/m2 Moderate/m1 Low Very low Very low Moderate/m1 Low Very low Very low

3

Cumulation matrix expanded Impact 2 high Moderate/m3 Moderate/m2 Moderate/m1 Low Very low Impact 1 high Very high Very high high high high high Moderate/m3 Very high Very high high m3 m3 m3 Moderate/m2 high high m3 m2 m2 m2 Moderate/m1 high m3 m2 m2 m1 m1 Low high m3 m2 m1 Low Low Very low high m3 m2 m1 Low Very low

4

Matrix 4: adapted cumulation process

Physical loss

• Initial map for loss
• All cumulative disturbance resulting in loss is subsequently

transferred to loss map (and removed from disturbance map)

Quantitative assessment

• Boundary between ‘low’ and ‘moderate’ cumulative impacts defined as

‘significant impact’ or adversely affected in the sense of D6C3

• Spatial extent of significantly impacted area less than 25 % of overall

biotope area as basic proposal for good environmental status in combination with 10 % not impacted area (comparable to OSPAR BH 3 assessment, national proposal of Germany used in MSFD reporting for the North Sea)

• Development of numerical values or ratios in preparation
• Further modifications needed for rare and threatened biotopes (HD,

Red listed biotopes), currently not covered within the proposal

Outlook

• Assessment of cumulative impacts on different levels of detailed data

(broad scale habitats or biotopes HUB level 5/6) with corresponding broad or pressure specific sensitivities and variable number of pressures to determine factors relevant for the resulting impact, improvements in spatial assessment scales (e.g. fishery)

• Further modifications of pressure and sensitivity classification in order to

improve the confidence in the resulting magnitude of pressure and the assessment depending on data availability

• Automation of assessment via GIS models/workflows (buffering,

intersection process) for easier application of CumI and reduced manual workload

Thank you!