"This project will use the high resolution record of environmental changes
recorded in coastal sediments to reconstruct, or hindcast, the long-term
(ca. 100-150 years) changes in nutrient (N and P) loading that have taken
place in four representative European coastal basins. The project involves
novel approaches to reconstruct historical nutrient concentrations using
the recently developed technique of diatom-based transfer functions and
will use a multi-proxy approach to reconstruct different aspects of
ecosystem response (phytoplankton, macrophytes, zoobenthos) to changes in
nutrient loading. Results from this analysis will be used to develop a
tool that will enable coastal managers to assess the magnitude of nutrient
reduction necessary to reach a state by which ""only a slight departure of
the biological community from the conditions of minimal anthropogenic
impact"" as defined by the Water Framework Directive.
http://www.helsinki.fi/science/ecru/MOLTEN.html"
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