Higher plants MONEOS (De Vlaamse Waterweg)

Mud flat vegetations perform a number of ecosystem services:
- Habitat: as habitat for various plant and animal species that are often specifically adapted to the dynamic conditions to which the mud flats are subject.
- Water quality: as a sink for carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients that can burden the ecosystem and consequently have an impact on other trophic levels (fish, benthos, birds).
- Primary production: within the freshwater tidal zone, mud flats play an important role as a source of silicon, necessary for the growth of diatoms.
- Flood risk management: directly by protecting the dikes behind and indirectly by dissipating hydro-energy.

The provision of these services is linked to a number of quality characteristics of the mud flats vegetation that need to be monitored for evaluation. Moreover, Natura 2000 objectives rest on the mud flats, they are a biological quality element for the Water Framework Directive and mud flats management must also take into account the EU regulation on invasive alien species.