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The RADMED monitoring programme as a tool for MSFD implementation: towards an ecosystem-based approach
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This paper describes the RADMED monitoring program in the western Mediterranean Sea and evaluates its utility for implementing the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, including monitoring of marine litter. The program collects biological, chemical, and physical oceanographic data that together provide a comprehensive picture of ecosystem health.
Abstract. In the western Mediterranean Sea, the RADMED monitoring programme is already conducting several of the evaluations required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD) along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The different aspects of the ecosystem that are regularly sampled under this monitoring programme are the physical environment and the chemical and biological variables of the water column, together with the planktonic communities, biomass and structure. Moreover, determinations of some anthropogenic stressors on the marine environment, such as contaminants and microplastics, are under development. Data are managed and stored at the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO) Data Centre that works under the SeaDataNet infrastructure, and are also stored in the IBAMar database. In combination with remote sensing data, they are used to address open questions on the ecosystems in the western Mediterranean Sea.
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The RADMED monitoring program: towards an ecosystem approach
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This paper describes the RADMED long-term marine monitoring program in the western Mediterranean, outlining its sampling design and the ecosystem-level information it provides for adaptive ocean management. The program tracks multiple indicators of ocean health relevant to assessing the broad environmental context of microplastic contamination.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.