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WISER W ater bodies in Europe: I ntegrative S ystems to assess E cological status and R ecovery. Project overview. EU-funded research project (FP7) 25 partners Duration: 3 years Planned starting date: February 2009 (depends on contract negotiations). Project objectives.
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WISERWater bodies in Europe:Integrative Systems to assess Ecological status and Recovery
Project overview • EU-funded research project (FP7) • 25 partners • Duration: 3 years • Planned starting date: February 2009 (depends on contract negotiations)
Project objectives • Which indicators are best suited for the assessment of ecological status? Which are most reliable? Which are redundant? (lakes, transitional and coastal waters) • How can results of different BQEs best be compared, intercalibrated and combined into an integrated appraisal of ecological status? (all water categories) • How do BQEs respond to recovery? (all water categories) • How is assessment and restoration affected by global change? (all water categories) • How can uncertainty be quantified and minimised? (all water categories)
Existing data sources used • 97 databases built in previous EU-funded and national projects • Lakes: 47 databases • Rivers 39 databases • Transitional waters: 14 databases • Coastal waters: 12 databases • “Real world data” form ongoing national WFD monitoring always welcome (particularly in early 2009!) • Close cooperation with GIGs in the fields of data harmonization and evaluation planned
Data harmonization, evaluation and modelling • Central harmonization effort (sampling sites, taxalists, environmental data) • Tailor-made databases for each workpackage • Correlation of biotic metrics to stress gradients using a wide variety of statistical methods • Modelling the impact of restoration and emerging stressors (such as climate change) on ecological status
Targeted field exercise • Limited to lakes and to transitional / coastal waters • Addressing all relevant BQEs • Main target: Quantification of uncertainty through parallel sampling • Programming of a general applicable tool for uncertainty estimation • Additional sampling effort will be sought from Member States through the GIGs (following the same protocols as WISER)
Selected products and deliverables • Methods and tools for ecological status assessment (for water type / BQE combinations which still need to be addressed) • Tools for uncertainty estimation • Databases on different water categories and BQEs (subject to data licence agreements) • Online databases on assessment methodologies • Models to estimate the effects of restoration and emerging stressors
Further information... • ... soon on www.wiser.eu