2009 Research Programmes of the HCMR - Hellenic Centre for ...

Other participants: (1) Miquel Canals (Iniversitat de Barcelona/Facultat de Geologia) (2) Sergio
Stefanni (IMAR – Instituto do Mar) (3) Marina R. Cunha (Universidade de Aveiro, Centro de
estudos do Ambiente e do Mar) (4) Anastatios Tselepides (University of Piraeus, Department of
Maritime Studies) (5) Serge Heussner (CNRS - CEFREM)
Brief Description of the Program: A consortium of 6 partners from 4 European countries are
being funded under the EU FP6 ERA-NET Scheme to study the effects of ecosystem change on
deep-sea populations in the Mediterranean. The project – ReDEco (Regional Drivers of Ecosystem
Change and its Influence on Deep-Sea Populations in the Mediterranean) – will begin in early
2009. It will focus on key drivers of climate change such as temperature changes, shifts in surface
primary productivity, cold water cascading etc. and examine their impacts on deep-sea populations.
It will integrate knowledge with new data from a diverse array of study sites in the Mediterranean
to allow insights into long-term change in deep-sea ecosystems. This will enable a better
understanding and prediction of decadal-scale fluctuations and their impact on biological
communities and ecosystem functioning, which is essential for identifying vulnerable systems and
pursuing options to enhance resilience and human well-being.
The principal objectives of the research programme are: (1) To understand effects of climate
change on deep-sea ecosystems in relation to climate-driven regional key factors and events
including the impact of large-scale episodic events, dense shelf water cascading (DSWC) and also
anthropogenic impacts. (2) To examine the variation of total particle flux to the seabed and
understand how this variation may affect the micro- meio- macro- and megabenthic communities.
(3) To study benthic community responses to varying food supply. (4) To examine the effects of
climate induced changes on deep-sea communities over shorter and longer timescales (more than a
decade). (5) To investigate historical demography and biogeography of selected species with
distinctive dispersal capability and reproductive strategy. (6) To integrate available historical data,
time series measurements and new data acquired during the project in a conceptual model in order
to predict, under different plausible hypothetical scenarios, the impact of climate change on various
physicochemical and/or biological parameters.
Network of leading MESOcosm facilities to advance the studies of future AQUAtic
ecosystems from the Arctic to the Mediterranean (MESOAQUA).
Contract Number: 228224
Scientific Coordinator:
Funding:
Starting Year: 2009
Dr P. Pitta
EU & GSRT
Duration: 48 months (01/01/09-31/12/12)
Total Budget: 621.619 €
Study Area:
Aegean Sea, Crete
Scientific team (HCMR): IO: Dr P. Pitta, Dr S. Psarra, Dr Α. Giannakourou, Dr S. Zervoudaki,
Dr Κ. Frangoulis, Dr Μ. Τsapakis, Τ. Τsagaraki, Ι. Μagiopoulos, D. Podaras, IMBG: S. Zivanovic,
IA: Dr P. Divanach
Other participants: (1) University of Bergen, Department of Biology, Norway, (2) Leibniz-
Institut für Meereswissenschaften an der Universität Kiel, Germany, (3) Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, Sete, France, (4) Umeå Marine Sciences Centre, Umeå University,
Sweden, (5) Kings Bay AS, Ny Alesund, Norway.
Brief Description of the Program: In marine ecology there is an urgent need to understand the
functioning of the lower part of the pelagic food web, its response to and effect on climate change,
its response to pollution and environmental toxins, and its role in producing food for commercially
important species at higher trophic level. This requires access for European scientists to tools
allowing experimental approaches to near-natural pelagic systems. To meet this need, we propose a
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