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 Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia on 11–15 April 2011. SGEH is tar-geted on (1) hazardous substances and especially their biological effects, and (2) bio-diversity. The group focuses especially on linkages between hazardous substances and their effects at different biological levels, from the molecular "early warning" level via effects on individuals and populations up to the ecosystem level. The main task of SGEH is to contribute to the development of integrated chemical-biological monitoring of hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea following the requests of the Baltic Sea Action Plan. This has been done in a harmonised way with the work ac-complished in OSPAR (SGIMC) and in close collaboration with HELCOM. This was the final meeting of the Study Group which is to be dissolved after three years of work.