Marine Biological Valuation Marine Biological Valuation in the physically stressed in the physically stressed

environment:environment:the Lithuanian case studythe Lithuanian case study

SERGEJ OLENINSERGEJ OLENIN

Coastal Research and Planning Institute,Klaipeda University, Lithuania

serg@gmf.ku.lt

Expert Workshop on Marine Biological Valuation

Marine Biology Section, University of Ghent

December 2-4, 2004

Lithuanian coastal environmentLithuanian coastal environment

Klaipėda

Very exposed, unsheltered coastVery exposed, unsheltered coast• 92 km of sandy beaches and

dunes.• Straight coastline,

no islands and inlets.• Wave fetch > 200 km in

NW, W, SW directions, wave height up to 8m.

• Active hydrodynamic, strong near-shore currents, coastal erosion.

• Macrofauna and benthic vegetation are under the blasting effect of sand and gravel.

In the middle of the Baltic salinity In the middle of the Baltic salinity gradientgradient

• Low species diversity (“Artenminimum” zone): 50 species of bottom macrofauna, 36 species of benthic macroalgae

Intensive anthropogenic activityIntensive anthropogenic activity

• Klaipeda port, 4th largest port in the Baltic Sea (cargo turnover 20 mln tons/yr).

• Two Lithuanian Oil terminals (10-14 mln tons/yr), Russian Oil drilling platform (D6).

• Klaipeda city (200, 000 citizens).

• Large recreational zones

Recreational zones

Butinge Oil Terminal, buoy 7 km offshore

Klaipeda Oil

Terminal

Russian (Kaliningrad) Oil drilling platform

Environmental problems and level of Environmental problems and level of their managementtheir management

• LOCAL(National or municipal level)

– Dredge spoil damping,– Overfishing.

• REGIONAL (Baltic Sea scale, e.g. HELCOM level)

– Eutrophication,– Chemical contamination,– Oil pollution,– Invasion of alien species.

• GLOBAL– Sea level rise,– Increase in number of storm events,– Global warming (Sources: Olenin 1999; Olenina

& Olenin 2002)

Coastal protected areasCoastal protected areas• Two coastal protected areas,

established in 1992;both comprise marine parts: a 2 nm wide stripe along the coastline.

• The marine parts were included without thorough investigation (“political need”).

• New demands:– 1) coastal typology and designation of

reference conditions (EU Water Framework Directive),

– 2) establishment of NATURA-2000 marine sites.

Seaside Regional Park

Curonian Spit National Park

Use of biotope approach for Use of biotope approach for coastal typologycoastal typology

andand valuation of marine lifevaluation of marine life

• A distinctive sea bottom area with conventionally uniform physical-chemical environment (salinity, substrate, hydrodynamics, light climate, temperature regime, etc.) and matching biological features.

• The physical 'habitat' with its biological 'community‘.

• The “biotope” notion is considered as a synonym of “habitat” in some legislative acts, directives and conventions for the convenience of interpretation.

What is a benthic biotope ? What is a benthic biotope ? (contemporary definition)(contemporary definition)

(Sources: Connor et al, 1993; MarLIN 2003; Olenin & Daunys, 2004)

1877 - K. Möbius:“The Oyster Bank Is a Biocönose, or a Social Community” “Biocenosis” = complex superorganism, plants and animals living together;

1908 – F. Dahl: “Principles and fundamental ideas of the biocenotic research” “Biotope” = a complex of factors, which determine physical conditions of existence of a biocenosis (physical-geographical environment)“the biotope of the biocenosis”;

1935 – A. Tansley: “The use and abuse of vegetation concepts and terms” “Ecosystem” = combination of climatic conditions, soil complex and biotic community;

Since 1940s: “Ecosystem=Biocenosis + Biotope” (in German, French, Russian, Polish and other “continental” literature)

History of the term “biotope”History of the term “biotope”

(Sources: Olenin 2003; Olenin & Ducrotoy in prep.)

Marine biotope classification systemsMarine biotope classification systems• HELCOM, 1998. Red list of Red list of Marine and

Coastal Biotopes and Biotope Complexes of the Baltic

Sea. Baltic Sea Environment Proceedings, No.75: 39-

43.

• Connor et al., 1997: Marine Nature Conservation

Review: marine biotope classification for Britain and

Ireland. Volume 1. Littoral biotopes. Volume 2.

Sublittoral biotopes. Version 97.06. Joint Nature

Conservation Committee, Peterborough, JNCC

Reports, No. 229 and No. 230.

• EUNIS, 2004: European Nature Information System.

European Environment Agency.

http://eunis.eea.eu.int/habitats.jsp (download 2004-10-

31).

Benthic biotope classification procedureBenthic biotope classification procedure(relevance to coastal typology and biological valuation)(relevance to coastal typology and biological valuation)

Justification of ecological relevance by the analysis of matching between physical

and biological features

Justification of ecological relevance by the analysis of matching between physical

and biological features

Inventory of physical factors shaping benthic

environment(salinity, substratum, depth,

wave exposure…)

Inventory of physical factors shaping benthic

environment(salinity, substratum, depth,

wave exposure…)

Inventory of biological features characterizing biotopes

(conspicuous species, coverage of dominant forms, visible biogenic

signs, community structure)

Inventory of biological features characterizing biotopes

(conspicuous species, coverage of dominant forms, visible biogenic

signs, community structure)

Mapping and description of biotopes

Mapping and description of biotopes

Development of the biotope classification system

Development of the biotope classification system

Benthic biotope classification procedureBenthic biotope classification procedure(relevance to coastal typology and biological valuation)(relevance to coastal typology and biological valuation)

Mapping and description of biotopes

Mapping and description of biotopes

Identification of coastal types as complexes of neighboring

interrelated biotopes(biotope complexes)

Identification of coastal types as complexes of neighboring

interrelated biotopes(biotope complexes)

Development of coastal typology

Development of coastal typology

Biological valuation and designation of MPAs

Biological valuation and designation of MPAs

Underwater surveys, 1993-2003Underwater surveys, 1993-2003Description of sea bottom and

sampling by SCUBA divers

Remote underwater video survey

Sampling of bottom macro fauna using a Van

Veen grab

Paper (pdf) available at: Paper (pdf) available at:

http://www.eucc-d.de/coastline_reports.phphttp://www.eucc-d.de/coastline_reports.php

Biotope as integration of different Biotope as integration of different ecological criteriaecological criteria

• DiversityDiversity– alfa - diversity within biotope,– beta – diversity among biotopes,– gamma – diversity of biotope complexes (coastal types)

• DependencyDependency– Presence of habitat engineers and keystone species (e.g.

Zostera, Fucus, Furcellaria or Mytilus, Ostrea)

• IntegrityIntegrity– Measure of degradation of biotopes– Functional importance– Functional interrelations between the biotopes

Biotopes as functional units of Biotopes as functional units of coastal marine ecosystemscoastal marine ecosystems

• Physico-chemical conditions of a habitat determine diversity of species, as well as functional diversity, “allowing” presence of certain functional groups and “restricting” (or “forbidding”) existence of others.– Examples: a) active biosedimentation is possible only on large

boulders below the breakers zone; b) production of macroalgae – only within euphotic zone on large stones; c) herring spawning – on stony bottoms with macroalgae.

• The biotopes differ not only in their appearance (exterior) but also in their functions, which they perform in coastal marine ecosystems.

3D scheme of benthic biotopes 3D scheme of benthic biotopes at the Seaside Regional Parkat the Seaside Regional Park

Biotopes as mapping unitsBiotopes as mapping units

Depression in the uppermost part of the submarine slope Depression in the uppermost part of the submarine slope with floating algae matswith floating algae mats

Mobil sands with burrowing amphipods and mysid shrimpsMobil sands with burrowing amphipods and mysid shrimps

Large boulders with filamentous green macroalgaeLarge boulders with filamentous green macroalgae

Stony bottoms with the red algae Stony bottoms with the red algae Furcellaria Furcellaria lumbricalislumbricalis

Stony bottoms with the blue mussel Mytilus edulisStony bottoms with the blue mussel Mytilus edulis

Soft bottoms with the bivalve Soft bottoms with the bivalve Macoma balticaMacoma baltica and and polychaetes polychaetes Pygospio elegans,Pygospio elegans, Hediste diversicolorHediste diversicolor

Primary production of Primary production of macroalgaemacroalgae

Formation and Formation and accumulation of accumulation of

detritusdetritus

Active Active biosedimentationbiosedimentation

((suspension feedingsuspension feeding))

Utilization of detritus from the Utilization of detritus from the surface of bottom sediments and surface of bottom sediments and

bioturbationbioturbation

Ecological integrity criteria: Ecological integrity criteria: assessment of functional importance assessment of functional importance

of biotopesof biotopes

BiotopesFunctions

Spawning ground

Foraging area for fish, birds

Shelter for fish fry

Support for high species

diversity

Stony bottoms with Furcellaria 2 1 2 2

Stony bottoms with Mytilus 0 2 1 2

Mobil sands with Bathyporeia 0 1 1 0

Soft bottoms in aphotic zone 0 2 0 1

0 – not relevant, 1 – present, 2 - important

ConclusionConclusion

• The biotope integrates several important ecological criteria used for biological valuation.

• Biotope is a convenient unit which may be used for the coastal typology and coastal types may be identified as the complexes of interrelated neighboring biotopes.

• National and international biotope classification systems are being developed for the coastal zones of Europe. This may provide a solid background for a scientifically acceptable and widely applicable valuation strategy.

ExtrasExtras

Furcellaria lumbricalisFurcellaria lumbricalis

Furcellaria lumbricalisFurcellaria lumbricalis::Biotope under changeBiotope under change

1993 1968

(Data: Blinova & Tolstikova, 1972) (Data: Olenin & Labanauskas, 1994)

BūtingėBūtingė Oil Terminal Oil Terminal• Oil tank facilities on land connected Oil tank facilities on land connected

by a 7,5 km long pipeline with the by a 7,5 km long pipeline with the

offshore buoy (depth ca. 20 m)offshore buoy (depth ca. 20 m)

• 10 mln tons of oil products in 2003 10 mln tons of oil products in 2003

(Ventspils – 28 mln tons)(Ventspils – 28 mln tons)

[ ] - <5 species

[ ] - >10 species

[ ] - >15 species

Spices richness of bottom macrofauna