Indicators of Stress in the Marine Benthos

Proceedings of an International workshop on the promotion and use of benthic tools for assessing the health of coastal marine ecosystems Proceedings of an International workshop on the promotion and use of benthic tools for assessing the health of coastal marine ecosystems Disclaimer The designation employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the UNESCO or the Foundation IMC – International Marine Centre ONLUS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of UNESCO or IMC. The authors are fully responsible for their submitted material and should be addressed for further information as desired. Reproduction is authorized, provided that appropriate mention is made of the source, and copies sent to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the Foundation IMC – International Marine Centre at the addresses below. Preface Coastal marine ecosystems are increasingly affected by environmental stress and degradation due to pollution and other anthropogenic factors. A large number of research programmes have addressed these problems within various coastal regions and have produced highly useful comprehensive data-sets on environmental and biotic conditions within these systems. A growing number of new tools and methods for assessing the health of these systems have emerged as well. The time has come now to provide an international framework for the assessment and use of common methodologies and tools as a pathway to greater capacity building, information exchange, and quality control and ultimately as a basis for improving our understanding of global patterns of ocean ecosystem health. The development of sensitive, reliable, and broadly applicable indicators of ocean health is relevant to Chapter 40 (Information for Decision-Making) of the Agenda 21 of UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development), which calls for sustainable use of the ocean environment. In order to provide such a forum, an international workshop on " Indicators of Stress in the Marine Benthos " , jointly organized by the Foundation IMC – International Marine Centre ONLUS and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, was held in Torregrande-Oristano, Sardinia (Italy) October 8 th –9 th 2004. Key goals of the workshop were: (1) to exchange information on the scope and results …