Indicator to assess the extent of physical damage on benthic habitats

We present an indicator that enables the assessment of the extent of damage to benthic habitats caused by human activities, even when we have little habitat monitoring data available. In the North East Atlantic, the impact of... [ view full abstract ]

We present an indicator that enables the assessment of the extent of damage to benthic habitats caused by human activities, even when we have little habitat monitoring data available. In the North East Atlantic, the impact of bottom trawling on the seafloor is the most widespread physical impact, although other activities are equally or more intense, they are also spatially more limited. However, assessing the effects of those impacts at large scale, without compromising the quality of the results or downgrading the evidence available at local scale, is very challenging. A key issue to address on large scale assessments is the lack of extensive habitat data from monitoring and gaps on our knowledge on the state-pressure-impacts relationships, with data being collected only at a handful of sites or experimental areas. To address these shortcomings the indicator uses a method to combine data on the spatial distribution and intensity of activities with the distribution and range of habitat sensitivities using a GIS spatial analysis models. The indicator structure provides a framework where different type of biological data can be included, from point species data to large habitat models of broadscale habitats. The flexibility of this framework also allows the incorporation of new data or additional variables in the future, therefore ensuring the indicator can be updated when new evidence becomes available.