title: Development of a fish-based multimetric index to assess the ecological quality of marine habitats: the Marine Fish Community Index.
abstract: In this paper the Marine Fish Community Index (MFCI) for the assessment of ecological status of marine environment is proposed. The MFCI was divided into 4 typologies: Rocky subtidal; shallow, intermediate and deep soft-bottoms. Based on the typical community associated to each typology and the DPSIR analysis performed, a set of metrics were selected and tested through a multiple correlation matrix (Pearson's coefficient) and the core ones included in the index. The MFCI was applied in all typologies and the scores obtained with each metric were analyzed. In order to test the robustness of the MFCI the final ecological value of each zone was recalculated by removing successively one metric at a time. The MFCI showed a sensitive and robust response in the ecological status assessment. Since it incorporates both functional and structural community information, the MFCI can be useful in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive as well as in other contexts of conservation and sustainable management of the marine environment.
authors: Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Centro de Oceanografia, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal. snpires@fc.ul.pt
authors: Sofia
authors: S
authors: Henriques
authors: Miguel Pessanha
authors: MP
authors: Pais
authors: Maria José
authors: MJ
authors: Costa
authors: Henrique
authors: H
authors: Cabral
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods*