NOAH

Work Package 4: Assessing ecosystem status, services and pressures

WP4 will operationalize GES indicators based on the indentification and quantification of pressure-state relationships.

Building upon this, risk-based approaches will be defined to set policy targets and to evaluate scenarios for a sustainable spatial management of the seafloor in the German Bight.

NOAH Participation

NOAH aims to improve the knowledge base for environmental assessments of sea floor status. NOAH project partners constantly channel results into national and international bodies that are responsible for implementation and support of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Gremientätigkeiten Ti Bsh 2017 (239 KB)

Objectives

WP4 focusses on Descriptor 6 of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) which is related to seafloor integrity and consists of six indicators addressing various aspects of biodiversity, habitat structure, ecosystem functioning and resilience. Sub objectives are:

  • To establish and validate pressure-state relationships
  • To operationalize MSFD indicators related to seafloor state by employing feasible metrics
  • To define risk-based approaches for setting GES targets
  • To evaluate management scenarios for single indicators
  • To develop and employ Bayesian network models for testing the effects of multiple pressures and management actions
  • To apply advanced time series analyses to model results and observations to detect and predict structural changes
  • To review state of the art valuation methods for their suitability to evaluate services provided by benthic ecosystem
  • To publish advances in technical and scientific knowledge

Work Package Leader: Gerd Kraus (TI-SF), Hermann Held (CEN)