Abstract

This study assessed the ecological status of the Aegean Sea coasts of Türkiye using the destructive Ecological Evaluation Index continuous (EEI-c) and non-destructive Benthic Ecological Assessment Rapid Index (BEARI) macroalgal indices within the framework of coastal ecological monitoring. A total of 25 coastal stations were investigated and macroalgal taxa were classified into sensitive Ecological Status Group I (ESG I) and Benthic Ecological Group I (BEG I) and tolerant–opportunistic Ecological Status Group II (ESG II) and Benthic Ecological Group II (BEG II), according to their ecological characteristics. Ecological quality status (EQS) was evaluated using EEI-c and BEARI, while Bray–Curtis similarity analysis and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were applied to examine spatial patterns and relationships with environmental variables. The EEI-c assessment classified 19 stations as “high” and five stations as “good”, whereas only İzmir-Bostanlı exhibited “bad” ecological status. According to BEARI, five stations were classified as “high”, 17 as “good”, and Çandarlı, Güllük, and İzmir-Bostanlı as “moderate”, “poor”, and “bad”, respectively. A significant relationship was detected between EEI-c and BEARI values (R2 = 0.71). In addition, Macroalgae-Land Use Simplified Index (MA-LUSI) values were negatively correlated with both EEI-c and BEARI, indicating the sensitivity of macroalgal indices to anthropogenic pressures. Overall, the results demonstrate that macroalgae-based indices provide reliable tools for ecological assessment and support multi-metric approaches in coastal monitoring programs. This study provides one of the first comparative evaluations of destructive (EEI-c) and non-destructive (BEARI) macroalgal indices in relation to MA-LUSI pressure assessment along the Turkish Aegean coasts.

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