title: Ecological quality assessment in the Eastern Mediterranean combining live and dead molluscan assemblages.
abstract: The EU directive to quantify ecological quality by deviation from pre-impacted conditions often fails to be implemented because past information is usually incomplete or missing. Molluscan death assemblages, representing long-term accumulation of shells on the sea floor, average out short-term variability and can serve as a baseline for quality assessment. AMBI, Bentix and Shannon-Wiener indices were calculated for live and dead assemblages from polluted and control stations on the highly oligotrophic Levantine shallow shelf of Israel. Bentix successfully tracked deterioration over time, from moderate EcoQS in the dead to poor in the live assemblage. Additional modification of the ecological classification of species by scoring the naturally abundant Corbula gibba as pollution-sensitive improved the utility of the Bentix index in monitoring in this part of the Mediterranean. This adjustment of Bentix, and use of death assemblages for an ecological baseline, should therefore be incorporated in monitoring for compliance with EU directives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel; Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malchei Yisrael St., 95501 Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: yael.leshno@mail.huji.ac.il.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Leshno
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. Electronic address: chaim@exchange.bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Chaim
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benjamini
authors.affiliation: Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malchei Yisrael St., 95501 Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: yael@gsi.gov.il.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Edelman-Furstenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D007557:Israel; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008974:Mollusca / Q000502:physiology*; D060753:Water Quality
keywords: AMBI; Bentix; Eastern Mediterranean; Ecological Quality Status; European Water Framework Directive; Live–dead molluscan assemblages