Qualified employment data for Russia was not available. Having assembled relevant data sets, Step 2 entailed the development where necessary of normalized values for each data layer to enable aggregation of data. Index scores for direct and indirect anthropogenic uses and interests in the seas were

calculated as follows: equation(1) IMSC=∑i=1n(ai+bi)where a is a normalized value for anthropogenic uses and b is a normalized value for spatial functions provided by the ecosystem covering spawning areas and areas spatially protected by conservation regimes at location i. The variables a and b were normalized by x′=λx where λ is a scaling factor of variable magnitude for the respective spatial claim. This resulted in values ranging for a from 0 to 4 and for b from 0 to 1. Grid cells covered by the Natura 2000 regime received the value 4 due to their preclusive effect for many uses. For all these data layers values were calculated for 35,943 cells covering Everolimus order the whole Baltic Sea. In relation to environmental impacts the Baltic Sea Impact Index (BSII) [34] provided www.selleckchem.com/products/wnt-c59-c59.html a ready-made system of normalized values. The index is an outcome of the HELCOM HOLAS project and is calculated after a method by Halpern et al. [35]. Index scores are given for a spatial resolution of 5×5 km2

covering the entire sea with 19,276 grid cells. Based on Eurostat data [36] and data from the European Cluster Observatory [37] an index value for the rate of maritime employment per region was calculated as follows: equation(2) IME=Em∑r=1nErwhere Em is the amount of all maritime employment per

coastal NUTS 2 region and E Pembrolizumab is the total employment per region r. Er is summed up for all coastal NUTS 2 regions wherefore the resulting index IME gives the percentage of maritime employment per region in total employment of all coastal regions around the sea. The marine indices IMSC and BSII were then combined by overlay analysis in a Geographic Information System (GIS) [38], while the land based population density and IME employment index were added separately to produce two composite maps (see Figs. 1 and 2) designed to understand the relevance of these data layers to typology development. The final step involved a reflection upon the quantitative gradients achieved by the aggregation of IMSC and BSII indices and the development of a qualitative gradient which categorized the varying intensity of sea use and human impacts in a way that might be useful to MSP (see Fig. 3). Fig. 1 shows the results of the cumulated IMSC and BSII indices and illustrates the varying intensity of sea use and environmental impacts associated with human activity. On examination first of all large-scale spatial patterns are noticeable: lines and rectangles spread over the whole Baltic Sea. While rectangles represent fish catches (landings) based on ICES rectangles, lines, e.g. from south-west to north-east, display major shipping routes.