HELCOM ZEN QAI Period : 2011-2013 Proposed by : Z ooplankton E xpert - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Quality Assurance and Integration of Zooplankton Monitoring in the Baltic Sea

HELCOM ZEN QAI

Proposed by: Zooplankton Expert Network Chair/Contracting party: Elena Gorokhova, Sweden Period: 2011-2013

HELCOM MONAS 14/2011

• Zooplankton - a main link in

food webs and nutrient cycling

• Understanding zooplankton

dynamics is crucial for an ecosystem approach to management

• This approach is a cornerstone

to HELCOM, Baltic Sea Action Plan, Marine Strategy Framework Directive and EU Common Fisheries Policy

Importance of zooplankton assessment

Current status and need for development

• Currently, ZEN is a part of Intersessional

activities;

• The project status of ZEN would provide

– funding joint activities, e.g., training workshops, intercalibration exercises and seminars, – facilitate quality assurance assessment, both within each participating laboratory and between laboratories involved in HELCOM monitoring.

Quality Assessment - Ring Tests

• In 2006-2009, 23 participants from 15 testing

laboratories in 9 HELCOM Member States participated in the Ring Test

– species identification, counting and biomass determination of Baltic Sea zooplankton.

• Organized by ZEN and the Baltic Sea Regional

Project (BSRP) and funded by BSRP and the Federal Environment Agency Dessau- Roßlau/Berlin.

The Ring Test indicated a clear need for taxonomic training

• only 17% of experts were able to correctly

identify >90% of the test species,

• ≈50% of the experts identified <75% of the

test species!

• it is of particular concern that common and

ecologically important Baltic species created considerable identification difficulties.

Also, there is an urgent need for standardized quality assurance assessment

• current quality assurance

requirements vary between the testing laboratories,

• there is no consistent approach

to the assessment of accuracy, reproducibility and repeatability in zooplankton analysis,

• HELCOM COMBINE Manual does

not provide an adequate support for these issues.

This lack of certainty is one of the major obstacles in integrated use of zooplankton data to support core water quality programs and to improve long- term zooplankton data analysis

Aims of ZEN QAI proposal

• To insure and maintain high quality standard
• f the Baltic regional zooplankton monitoring

within the HELCOM COMBINE;

• To assure data comparability and their

effective usage;

• To assist in development of regional target

values for good environmental status based

• n zooplankton-related variables

Activities

• Organizing training courses/workshops;
• Revising and updating the COMBINE manual;
• Maintaining intercalibrations;
• Updating taxonomic lists;
• Evaluating applicability of zooplankton-based

indices as environmental indicators;

• Revising recommendations for zooplankton

biomass assessment.

Training courses & Workshops

• 3 Workshops (2011, 2012, and 2013)

– To maintain continuity and quality in zooplankton identification and enumeration; – To follow changes in taxonomy of problematic species; – To upgrade expertise for identification of alien species; – To further unify sampling and counting methods between the laboratories; – To harmonize general methodology by evaluating differences related to variations in counting procedure and equipment; – To improve quality control in participating laboratories.

ZEN participants

Expert name Country Affiliation Eva Friis Møller Denmark NERI, Aarhus University Arno Põllumäe Estonia Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu Maiju Lehtiniemi Finland SYKE Siru Tasala Finland SYKE Lutz Postel Germany Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, IOW Anda Ikauniece Latvia Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology Solvita Strake Latvia Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology Piotr Margonski Poland Sea Fisheries Institute Alina Krajewska Poland Sea Fisheries Institute Bozenna Kaczmaruk Poland Department of Oceanography and Baltic Sea Monitoring Irena Telesh Russia Zoological Institute, RAS Elena Gorokhova Sweden Stockholm University Lisa Mattsson Sweden Stockholm University Johanna Crona Sweden Umeå University Marie Johansson Sweden SMHI Lars Johan Hansson Sweden SMHI

• 16 experts,
• 8 countries

Budget requested

• Project management

and meeting facilitation: 15 000 EUR

Expected results

• Annual reports to HELCOM MONAS;
• Intercalibration reports to HELCOM;
• Revised biomass assessment guidelines and

taxonomic lists of Baltic zooplankton species

• Contribution to the CORESET report regarding

use of zooplankton in environmental status assessment;

• Final report (2011-2013).

Zooplankton Expert Network: First Intercalibration Workshop, Aranda, 2006

Let’s go uniform!