Meta-analysis of a large data set with Water Framework Directive indicators and calibration of a Benthic Quality Index at the family level

A large data set of marine benthic samples from the Eastern Mediterranean was used to develop Benthic Quality Index (BQI)-family, a new indicator based on the BQI index, which was calibrated by maximizing the consensus with other existing indicators namely BQI, Shannon diversity H', AZTI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and BENTIX. The values calculated for the BQI-family indicator are significantly and highly correlated (p < 0.0001) to those calculated for all the aforementioned indicators and it provides judgment on ecological status close to their average. Furthermore, it combines the strong points of all these methods with the increased reliability, speed and low cost of the identification at higher taxonomic levels.