IMAR - Institute of Marine Research, c/o Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, 3004-517 Coimbra, Portugal.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2009 Oct;58(10):1477-86. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.06.006. Epub 2009 Jul 16.
Assessing the health of ecosystems has become a focal point among researchers worldwide. Recently, the European Water Framework Directive intensified the development of approaches to assess ecosystems' ecological quality. The Benthic Assessment Tool (BAT) is a multimetric approach to evaluate condition of subtidal soft bottom macroinvertebrates of coastal and transitional waters. The effects of anthropogenic disturbances on benthic macroinvertebrate communities, from 1990 to 2006, allowed testing BAT performance in Mondego estuary (Portugal). The method was able to detect decrease on ecological quality, induced essentially by eutrophication and physical disturbances, and follow communities' subsequent recovery. It evidenced, nevertheless, some limitations associated with the unstable nature of estuaries. The ecological classification of key species in the community and the balance expected between ecological groups of estuarine communities had great influence in the final ecological assessment. Shortcomings of the method were discussed in the light of its suitability for assessing transitional waters' condition.
评估生态系统的健康状况已成为全球研究人员关注的焦点。最近，《欧洲水框架指令》加强了评估生态系统生态质量方法的发展。底栖评估工具（BAT）是一种多指标方法，用于评估沿海和过渡水域的潮间带软底大型底栖无脊椎动物的状况。从 1990 年到 2006 年，人为干扰对底栖大型无脊椎动物群落的影响，使得在葡萄牙的蒙德古河口（Mondego estuary）测试 BAT 性能成为可能。该方法能够检测到生态质量的下降，主要是由富营养化和物理干扰引起的，并且可以跟踪群落的后续恢复情况。然而，它也暴露出与河口不稳定性质相关的一些局限性。群落中关键物种的生态分类以及预期的河口群落生态组之间的平衡对最终的生态评估有很大影响。根据该方法对过渡水域状况评估的适宜性，对其不足之处进行了讨论。
