Assessment of the ecological status of Mediterranean French coastal waters as required by the Water Framework Directive using the Posidonia oceanica Rapid Easy Index: PREI
This paper describes the PREI (Posidonia oceanica Rapid Easy Index), a method used to assess the ecological status of seawater along Mediterranean French coasts. The PREI was drawn up according to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000/60/EC) and was tested on 24 and 18 stations in PACA (Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur) and Corsica, respectively. The PREI is based on five metrics: shoot density, shoot leaf surface area, E/L ratio (epiphytic biomass/leaf biomass), depth of lower limit, and type of this lower limit. The 42 studied stations were classified in the first four levels of status: high, good, moderate and poor. The PREI values ranged between 0.280 and 0.847; this classification is in accordance with our field knowledge and with our knowledge of the literature. The PREI was validated regarding human pressure levels (r(2)=0.74). (http://eurex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000: 327:0001:0072:EN:PDF). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Gobert Sylvie, Sartoretto Stephane, Rico-Raimondino Valerie, Andral Bruno, Chery Aurelia, Lejeune Pierre, Boissery Pierre (2009). Assessment of the ecological status of Mediterranean French coastal waters as required by the Water Framework Directive using the Posidonia oceanica Rapid Easy Index: PREI. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 58 (11). 1727-1733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.06.012, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6949/
