Steven Degraer

Publications (2)5.26 Total impact

• Source

  Available from: Francis Kerckhof

  Article: The use of benthic indicators in Europe: from the Water Framework Directive to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

  Gert Van Hoey, Angel Borja, Silvana Birchenough, Lene Buhl-Mortensen, Steven Degraer, Dirk Fleischer, Francis Kerckhof, Paolo Magni, Iñigo Muxika, Henning Reiss, Alexander Schröder, Michael L Zettler
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  ABSTRACT: The Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) are the European umbrella regulations for water systems. It is a challenge for the scientific community to translate the principles of these directives into realistic and accurate approaches. The aim of this paper, conducted by the Benthos Ecology Working Group of ICES, is to describe how the principles have been translated, which were the challenges and best way forward. We have tackled the following principles: the ecosystem-based approach, the development of benthic indicators, the definition of 'pristine' or sustainable conditions, the detection of pressures and the development of monitoring programs. We concluded that testing and integrating the different approaches was facilitated during the WFD process, which led to further insights and improvements, which the MSFD can rely upon. Expert involvement in the entire implementation process proved to be of vital importance.
  Marine pollution bulletin 11/2010; 60(12):2187-96. · 2.63 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Ananda Ranasinghe

  Article: Assessing coastal benthic macrofauna community condition using best professional judgement--developing consensus across North America and Europe.

  Heliana Teixeira, Angel Borja, Stephen B Weisberg, J Ananda Ranasinghe, Donald B Cadien, Daniel M Dauer, Jean-Claude Dauvin, Steven Degraer, Robert J Diaz, Antoine Grémare, Ioannis Karakassis, Roberto J Llansó, Lawrence L Lovell, João C Marques, David E Montagne, Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi, Rutger Rosenberg, Rafael Sardá, Linda C Schaffner, Ronald G Velarde
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  ABSTRACT: Benthic indices are typically developed independently by habitat, making their incorporation into large geographic scale assessments potentially problematic because of scaling inequities. A potential solution is to establish common scaling using expert best professional judgment (BPJ). To test if experts from different geographies agree on condition assessment, sixteen experts from four regions in USA and Europe were provided species-abundance data for twelve sites per region. They ranked samples from best to worst condition and classified samples into four condition (quality) categories. Site rankings were highly correlated among experts, regardless of whether they were assessing samples from their home region. There was also good agreement on condition category, though agreement was better for samples at extremes of the disturbance gradient. The absence of regional bias suggests that expert judgment is a viable means for establishing a uniform scale to calibrate indices consistently across geographic regions.
  Marine pollution bulletin 12/2009; 60(4):589-600. · 2.63 Impact Factor