ENA Food Web Indicator

As part of the OSPAR Quality Status Report 2023, a pilot food web assessment by means of Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) was developed together with France, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal. iSeal has contributed to this pilot study with an analysis of a coastal North Sea food web. By using Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) all direct and indirect interactions in a food web can be analysed. By using model-derived ENA indices, the structure, functioning and ecological status can be assessed. The food web of the coastal North Sea comprises 235 marine species and has been modelled over a period from 2009 to 2019. Due to high pressures on the food web, the ENA indices show that the food web is not in good environmental status.

The OSPAR Quality Status Report is produced every 10 years, with intermediate assessments every 5-7 years, and aims to assess the environmental status of the North-East Atlantic against the objectives of the North-East Atlantic Environmental Strategy 2010-2020 (NEAES 2020) and identify actions to achieve a clean, healthy and biologically diverse North-East Atlantic Ocean, which is productive, use sustainably and resilient to climate change and ocean acidification.