The German procedure for the assessment of ecological status in relation to the biological quality element "Macroalgae & Angiosperms" pursuant to the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) for inner coastal waters of the Baltic Sea

In this report the authors describe the rationale behind, development and application of the german assessment system for the BQE "macroalgae and angiosperms" in the inner coastal waters of the German Baltic Sea. This System was developed mainly at the University of Rostock and, due to the German acronym of the funding project, is generally known as the ELBO assessment system. It was especially developed for the inner Fjords and Bodden, which mainly feature soft bottom communities and conditions of low exposure and low salinity, often with strong gradients and variability.