Report of the Study Group for the Development of Integrated Monitoring and Assessment of Ecosystem Health in the Baltic Sea (SGEH)

ICES Study Group for the Development of Integrated Monitoring and Assessment of Ecosystem Health in the Baltic Sea (SGEH) met at the Sea Fisheries Institute (SFI) in Gdynia, Poland on 1–5 March 2010. The present SGEH was established in 2008 to fol-low the main lines of the "old" SGEH, established in 2003 in support of the Baltic Sea Regional Programme (BSRP). The BSRP SGEH covered all major themes related to the general concept of ecosystem health (EH), while the current SGEH is targeted on (1) hazardous substances and especially their biological effects, and (2) biodiversity. The group focuses especially on linkages between hazardous substances and their effects at different level of biological levels, from the molecular "early warning" level via effects on individuals and population up to ecosystem level.