INDICATORS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THRESHOLDS AND POINTS OF NON-RETURN

Ecological indicators are used increasingly to assess the conditions and/or status of ecosystems. Historically, the first approach was to develop indices based on a particular species or components, e.g. macrophytes, zooplankton, etc. In general, such indices are not broad enough to reflect the complexity of the ecosystem, as they do not include information at the structural, functional and system levels. To cope with these aspects new indices have been developed that try to synthesyze information at all ecosystem levels. In this project we are interested in evaluating indicators in terms of their potential to detect thresholds and point of nonreturn in coastal ecosystem. This report aims at providing a comprehensive overview of indicators with applicability to the assessment of thresholds of ecosystem integrity in coastal ecosystems. A preliminary screening has been performed and indicators suited for identification of thresholds have been described.