EcApRHA's Mean Trophic Level indicator workshop - Food Web group

The EcApRHA Food webs Work Package held a workshop on the Mean Trophic Level (MTL) indicator from 23 to 24 May 2016 at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) in Paris, France. The workshop focused on work progress and potential collaborations within this indicator development.

More specifically, the group considered the methodology to be applied when using the Mean Trophic Level (MTL) indicator to describe food webs, the way to link the indicator to fishing pressure and the potential collaborations for a gridded mapped approach to this indicator.

Main outcomes of the workshop:

• The methodology was approved by experts involved in this work;
• A new approach to link fishing pressure and the MTL indicator was adopted;
• First discussions about linking length-based and trophic-based indicators were undertaken;
• The potential use of the MTL indicator in a gridded map format was discussed;
• Progress update of indicator in accordance with the OSPAR 2017 intermediate assessment;
• A deliverable is in progress considering the definition of assessment values based on different case studies and their inclusion in NEAT tool (developed by the DEVOTES project).

The working group will be focusing on the Bay of Biscay’s (region IV OSPAR) case study.