“State of the art in indices of biological quality or ecological integrity in tropical estuaries” Strings ((“multimetric index*” OR “multimetric indices” OR “multi-metric index*” OR “multi-metric indices” OR “biotic index” OR “biotic indices” OR “ecological index” OR “ecological indices” OR “biological index*” OR “biological indices” OR “quality indices” OR “quality index” OR “integrity indices” OR “integrity index” OR “fish indices” OR “macrobenth* indeces” OR “macrobenth* index” OR “macrobenth* based-indices” OR “macrobenth* index” OR “benthic macroinvertebrat* indices” OR “benthic macroinvertebrat* index” OR “benthic macroinvertebrat* based-indices” OR “benthic macroinvertebrat* based-index” OR “benthic communi* indices” OR “benthic communi* index” OR “benthic communi* based-indices” OR “benthic communi* based-index” OR “macroalgae indices” OR “macroalgae index” OR “macroalgae based-indices” OR “macroalgae based-index” OR “algae indices” OR “algae index” OR “algae based-indices” OR “algae based-index” OR “seagrass indices” OR “seagrass index” OR “seagrass based-indices” OR “seagrass based-index” OR “sea-grass indices” OR “sea-grass index” OR “sea-grass based-indices” OR “sea-grass based-index” OR “phytoplankton indices” OR “phytoplankton index” OR “phytoplankton based-indices” OR “phytoplankton based-index” OR “mangrove indices” OR “mangrove index” OR “mangrove based-indices” OR “mangrove based-index”) AND (“estuar*” OR “transitional system*”) AND (fish* OR ichth* OR macrobenth* OR benthic OR “benthic macroinvertebrat*” OR “benthic communi*” OR macroalgae OR algae OR seagrass OR “sea-grass” OR phytoplankton OR mangrove)) Articles types Only primary studies will be included in this study. Language of articles English e Portuguese QUALITY CRITERIA FOR PRIMARY STUDIES: The work must have been published in peer reviewed journals when referring to articles or approved by Universities when referring to thesis or dissertation for doctoral or master (for WOS, SCOPUS, SCIELO). And for African data grey literature will be included due to lack of studies published in journals, therefore local Government, FAO and UNEP Reports will be included on the scope. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the articles: population considered in the evaluation and statistical methods. PRIMARY STUDY SELECTION PROCESS: Strings will be built with the keywords and their synonyms. The strings will be submitted to the search engines. After reading the summary and applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the work will be selected if its relevance is confirmed by the main reviewer (student). If there is any doubt of relevance, the other reviewers will be consulted. INFORMATION EXTRACTION STRATEGY: After defining the works included, they will be read in full. The reviewer will make a summary of each of them, highlighting the methods used for the assessment and parameters considered, when applicable. “Data extraction forms” will be filled in for each text, considered valid for RS, read in full. In addition to the basic information (bibliographic data, date of publication, abstract, study country, climatic zone, type of ecosystem and name of index and index metrics), these forms must contain the synthesis of the work, written by the researcher who will lead the SR and personal reflections on the content, the statistical techniques employed, conclusions and recommendation of the study. SUMMARY OF RESULTS: After reading and summarizing the selected papers, a technical report will be prepared with a quantitative analysis of the papers and a meta analysis to assess the best method or index/indices to assess the tropical transition systems. introduction *Coastal systems – are very important, highly productive, ecologically and economically – but are also the target of many human activities and human settlement *What are ecological indices and what are they for * types of indices – single vs multimetric, different biological quality elements * Applicability varies with climatic region, typology of systems – most of the indices developed associated with environmental legislation – /climate zones – tropical systems – problem? * Purpose. – review of available indices by climatic region – focus on tropical systems….Applicability and possible transfer to tropical zones Material and methods * * Final string – WOK Results Scheme – Article Selection Diagram – Numbers and Criteria – Material and Methods VOSviewer- diagram cluster diagram summary table – Discussion
