Long-term (1998-2010) large-scale comparison of the ecological quality status of gulf of lions (NW Mediterranean) benthic habitats

- Significant effect of the reference data base on derived ES500.05 and BQI values
- No agreement between the values and derived EcoQ of BQI and AMBI and BQI and M-AMBI
- No correlation between BHQ values and those of 3 other tested biotic indices
- Agreement describing no trend between 1998 and 2010 in the EcoQ status of the Gulf of Lions

A comprehensive Mediterranean data set has been used to address 3 questions associated with the use of sensitivity/tolerance based biotic indices to infer the Ecological Quality status (EcoQs) of benthic habitats. Our results showed: (1) a significant effect of the reference database on derived sensitivity/tolerance measure (ES500.05) as well as associated Benthic Quality Index values and derived EcoQs; (2) a lack of correlation neither between BQI and AZTI Marine Biotic Index values nor between BQI and Multivariate-AZTI Marine Biotic Index values; (3) a lack of correlation between the values of the Benthic Habitat Quality Index (index derived from Sediment Profile Imagery) and those of either of the 3 tested biotic indices; and (4) a general agreement between the 3 tested biotic indices in describing the lack of global trend for the EcoQs of the Gulf of Lions despite the occurrence of significant changes in benthic macrofauna composition between 1998 and 2010.