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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.
Abstract. In the Western Mediterranean, the IEO-RADMED monitoring program is already conducting many 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 program 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, as contaminants and microplastics, are under develop. Data are managed and stored at the IEO Data Center that works under the SeaDataNet infrastructure and are also stored under the IBAMar database. In combination with remote sensing data they are used to address open questions on the ecosystem in the Western Mediterranean sea.
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