WFD Cycle 2 TraC Invertebrates: Ecological Status Classification for Coastal Waters

Environment Agency data classifies the ecological status of transitional and coastal waters based on benthic invertebrate communities. Metrics on species composition and disturbance sensitivity are calculated to produce an Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR), resulting in a Water Framework Directive classification of High, Good, Moderate, Poor, or Bad. This dataset has been retired and superseded by a newer record.

Use Cases

• Assess water body health based on benthic invertebrate community composition.
• Calculate Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs) by comparing observed to expected metric scores.
• Produce Water Framework Directive classifications (High, Good, Moderate, Poor, Bad) for regulatory reporting.
• Monitor changes in ecological status over time using the IQI classification tool metrics.

Strengths

• Data is produced by a national environmental agency (Environment Agency) for regulatory purposes.
• Classification follows a standardized Water Framework Directive methodology using the IQI tool.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Environment Agency

Collection Method

Classification data derived from monitoring benthic invertebrate communities and processed with the IQI classification tool.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-17 15:08:47.816269; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Transitional and coastal waters, likely within the UK.