WCO -2015
Qingdao, China
The trace element contamination of coastal waters: A holistic approach
to environmental monitoring surveys
Dr. Richir Jonathan
STARESO SAS Calvi - France
Laboratory of Oceanology University of Liege - Belgium
Numerical Ecology of Aquatic Systems University of Mons - Belgium
Abstract
Sustained monitoring programs are necessary to evidence the efficacy of regulatory controls on pollutant discharges and to assess the health status of ecosystems. Within this perspective, this study aimed to monitor the coastal trace element contamination of the whole Mediterranean, using Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile as bioindicator. But sustainable coastal management also requires the development of appropriate classification systems intended, among other purposes, for environmental managers and policy makers. The combined utilization of several complementary monitoring tools - water quality scale, pollution index, spatial analysis - successfully led to the development of such an operational classification system: it allowed to assess contamination threats and to depict contamination gradients of the entire Mediterranean, while assessing more regional and local impacts. Consequently, such holistic approaches should be privileged to accurately monitor the contamination rate of coastal waters and to transfer relevant information on this composite problem to environmental managers and policy makers.
Biography
Dr. Jonathan RICHIR, from 2013 Scientific Collaborator of the Oceanology Research Unit of the University of Liege (ULg), Belgium, in 2014 Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom, in 2015 Scientific Coordinator of the STARECAPMED project at the Marine and Oceanographic Research Station STARESO SAS, France, now Assistant Professor in the Numerical Ecology of Aquatic Systems group at the University of Mons, Belgium. Born in Namur, Belgium, in 1981. License in Biology (2004), Diploma of Specialized Studies in Applied Biology (2005), Master in Oceanography (2007). He publicly defended his Doctoral Thesis on
WCO -2015
Qingdao, China
the ecotoxicology of trace elements in 2012, with unanimous congratulations of the Jury. His research, which revolves primarily around the ecology and the ecotoxicology of trace elements, fits into the framework of European Policies and Directives related to coastal environment issues. This work is co-authored with Pr. Sylvie GOBERT, head of the Oceanolgy Research Unit. Master in Oceanography, Dr. in Sciences (2002), she teaches at the University of Liege (Biologic Oceanography, Pelagic Oceanography, Marine Ecology, Sampling Technics, Marine Plant Ecology …). Her researches focus on seagrasses, marine food webs, ecotoxicology, diagnostic tools, ecological health status indices, trace elements, stable isotopes, nutrients, seascapes …
