Research priorities for marine and coastal Nature-based Solutions (NBS)

Reproduced from O’Leary et al 2023.

Research priorities for marine and coastal Nature-based Solutions (NBS)

A core goal of the project MaCoBioS is to develop innovative research pathways and provide evidence-based guidance for marine policy formulation on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS).

In delivering this goal, we recently brought together twenty-one researchers from a breadth of scientific disciplines to identify research priorities for advancing understanding and informing implementation of marine and coastal NBS. Led by MaCoBioS researchers Dr Bethan O’Leary at the University of Exeter and Dr Catarina Fonseca at the University of the Azores, this collaborative work was supported by other members of the MaCoBioS team together with researchers from two other EU Horizon 2020 projects ‘Climate Change and Future Marine Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity’ (FutureMARES) and ‘Large scale RESToration of COASTal ecosystems through rivers to sea connectivity’ (REST-COAST).

Our three research priorities

To date, NBS have been largely studied for terrestrial – particularly urban – systems, with limited uptake thus far in marine and coastal areas. Yet, marine and coastal systems are of immense value to people and nature, face unprecedented risks from climate change and human impacts, and NBS offer a powerful strategy to reduce direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. We have therefore proposed three key interrelated research priorities for advancing NBS understanding and informing implementation in marine and coastal areas:

Biodiversity and ecosystem science: improve understanding of marine and coastal biodiversity-ecosystem services relationship. Our world is rapidly changing, and we need to understand risks to biodiversity and new opportunities for better management. Advancing knowledge on links between marine and coastal biodiversity, ecosystem health, vulnerability, functions, and services will help us do this and make us better placed to maximise the effectiveness of NBS as they are deployed.

Implementation guidance: provide scientific guidance on how and where to implement marine and coastal NBS and better coordinate across NBS strategies and projects. By improving our understanding of which marine and coastal NBS offer the greatest value, and how and where to implement and coordinate strategies for them, we can better implement management and help overcome barriers to NBS implementation.

People-centric research and action: develop ways to enhance marine and coastal NBS communication, collaboration, ocean literacy and stewardship. People are a critical part of the natural world and we need to better integrate and engage with local communities and other stakeholders in research and management to raise awareness, boost buy-in and increase societal benefits of NBS.

Embracing NBS in marine and coastal areas for transformative change

These are a broad set of priorities intrinsically linked to each other that go far beyond what one project can deliver. Collaboration between researchers and practitioners will be key and we need to concentrate investment and research efforts to move forwards with marine and coastal NBS design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Moving forward, MaCoBioS hopes that these research priorities can help inspire new research that operates with the same holistic approach as NBS – creating actionable science that embeds people and nature and helps us embrace NBS in the science, policy and practice of managing marine and coastal ecosystems for tangible benefits to people and marine life.

The full citation of the paper is: O’Leary BC, Fonseca C, Cornet CC, de Vries MB, Degia AK, Failler P, Furlan E, Garrabou J, Gil A, Hawkins JP, Krause-Jensen D, Le Roux X, Peck MA, Pérez G, Queirós AM, Różyński G, Sanchez-Arcilla A, Simide R, Sousa Pinto I, Trégarot E, Roberts CM. (2023) Embracing Nature-based Solutions to promote resilient marine and coastal ecosystems. Nature-Based Solutions 3:100044.

The full paper can be found here.

Text by Bethan O’Leary and Catarina Fonseca

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WORKING TOGETHER TO MOVE FORWARDS WITH NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS

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MaCoBioS and CMCC were excited to welcome participants from across the Mediterranean to Lecce, Italy on the 29thand 30th September 2022 to discuss how we can identify spatial opportunities for marine and coastal Nature-based Solutions.

Our goal was to bring together policy-makers and practitioners who are working to improve management of marine and coastal ecosystems through nature-based approaches and provide a forum to foster learning, explore current and future challenges faced by management, and consider solutions. Here is the host and coordinator, Elisa Furlan, giving a short overview of the workshop.

The agenda was packed. Thought-provoking presentations, in-depth discussions, a trip to the Torre Guaceto Marine Protected Area, tasty food, and lots of sharing of ideas. Our conversations were focused around how we can better manage cumulative risks from human activities and climate change in marine and coastal spaces and inform decisions about where NBS could be targeted. A common theme that ran through all our discussions was the urgent need to reduce direct human pressures on marine and coastal ecosystems where they occur prior to other actions. Without doing so, the effectiveness of any other form of management, such as restoration actions, would be limited. There were lots of interesting discussions about balancing pragmatism and opportunity with application of predictive models that can offer more strategic direction. We also discussed what such models should contain and how they should be communicated. Displayed below is a brief synopsis of the workshop.In the end, we were happy with the positive feedback received from participants, who found the workshop interesting and highlighted the importance of these events.

We’d like to thank all of the people who made our workshop a success by giving their time and valuable insights which helped shape this important dialogue and tool development.

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Text by Elisa Furlan, Bethan O’Leary and Catarina Fonseca

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Discovering mangroves

My enthusiasm for mangrove ecology started in a long house in the Gulf Province in Papua New Guinea. This huge structure was made entirely of mangrove timbers and thatched with fronds of a mangrove palm. Here I listened as my colleague in the Office of Forests negotiated with the traditional land owners for permission to conduct fieldwork. Young men from the village were detailed to observe and assist our team that was to weigh a huge tree within the forest. That sweaty teamwork was my introduction to the idea of biomass – the weight of living matter within a forest. I wondered what the young men would tell the village elders about our activities, but was hooked on mangrove forests after that!

Mangroves are trees that live in tropical tidal waters, where the salt and daily submergence prevents establishment of almost all other trees. Confusingly, but understandably, people also refer to forests of these trees as mangroves. In the last quarter of last century, a large portion of mangrove forest cover was lost due to conversion of these areas for aquaculture of prawns and fish. Encouragingly, in the current century, the value of mangrove forests has come to be more widely appreciated and mangrove loss has slowed with some areas of forest being re-established.

Celebrating the importance of mangroves

Mangrove forests are a vital part of the carbon cycle that buffers us from climate change.  They draw down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store the carbon in the leaves, branches and trunks of the trees, but as leaves and woody parts of the trees are shed leaves, carbon is transferred to in the sediment in which they grow and into coastal waters. Remarkably these forests can contain as much carbon in the trees as in rainforests do, but they store much more carbon than rainforest do locked up in the soil in which they grow. Plant waste travelling out on the tides supplies food to coastal waters. The forests also act as nurseries for fish and prawns that are caught in waters offshore. Juvenile fish feed and develop among the protection of roots and move into offshore when able to fend for themselves. Some, such as groupers, move to coral reefs. Mangrove roots stabilise shore sediments and also break up inrushing waves.

The underwater life associated with mangroves – Bonaire Credit : Ewan Trégarot

Mangroves and the work of MaCoBioS

Mangroves range from the northern end of the Red Sea to the North Island of New Zealand and flourish on calm subtropical and tropical shorelines in between. Surf shores are not suitable for mangroves. Though mainly located in the waters of continental Europe, the MaCoBioS project extends into the Caribbean with particular case study sites in Bonaire, Martinique and Barbados, where mangroves play an important role in protecting and feeding juvenile reef fish. In the Caribbean, mangrove forests survive cyclones while protecting the shorelines. Scars of hurricane track are visible in these forests many years after the event. Though much smaller in height and area covered than the huge forests of the Gulf of Papua, these Caribbean forests serve the island communities in numerous ways. They are particularly closely linked with the health of nearby coral reefs, act as key stepping stones for migrating birds, are recreational areas and also destinations for ecotourists. The challenge is to ensure the future supply of these ecosystem services, by taking account of the needs of this generous ecosystem in coastal zone planning.

Strong connection with associated ecosystems such as seagrass beds and coral reefs – Bonaire Credit : Ewan Trégarot

One of the pleasures of working with mangrove ecosystems is that those who do are natural collaborators who are committed to the cause of protecting these ecosystems. I hand over here to Ewan Trégarot to talk about the mangrove component of the MaCoBioS project.

Our experts are studying what are the effects of climate changes and anthropogenic stressors on mangroves and how those multiple pressures interact with each other’s. How can we use remote sensing to monitor the ecological condition of mangroves and the ecosystem services provided? What would happen to mangroves in the Caribbean in 2050 or 2100 given the current climate change predictions? Many questions remained to be answered, and hopefully, interesting elements of response will come up soon. Accordingly, remedial work will be recommended to foster the return of mangroves through replanting, restoring tidal circulation and minimising undesirable threats from urbanisation. There need be no losers if remedies are well planned.  

The generous forest of the tidal zone – Martinique Credit Ewan Trégarot

Text by Prof. Simon Cragg & Ewan Tregarot

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If Science is what you like to do, go for it, society and nature need you!

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The best part of being a scientist

One of the most exciting parts of doing science is trying to find answers to different questions and working in a collaborative way. It is a questioning process and we share this process with a lot of different people, who nurture it. Interactions between scientists are particularly encouraged in the MaCoBioS project, as it is based on the collaborative work of interdisciplinary teams of 16 different partners.

“Science is about life-long learning and staying relevant, great opportunities for making a real difference, solving challenges, communicating technical science to stakeholders.” Hazel Oxenford​, Professor of Marine Ecology and Fisheries, University of The West Indies.

“I really enjoy contributing with my own perspectives on issues regarding social justice to the MaCoBioS tasks and being able to understand other scientists’ perceptions, ideas and views of the problems coming from their own background. I feel that in science bringing in different perspectives is very enriching and quite fun!” Fabiola Espinoza, PhD Candidate, Lund University.

Scientific work gives us a systematic and practical way to understand the world around us based on observation and fact. It goes hand in hand with logic and reason. This is powerful, because it gives us a framework to address uncertainties, think through problems and make decisions. Through science, we can contribute to solving the most pressing environmental and socio-economic challenges with the final aim of helping society.

Some of our experts in the field (from left to right): Dr Cindy Cornet, Dr Silvia de Juan, Dr Géraldine Pérez

MaCoBioS is a great opportunity and an exciting challenge as it allows us to be part of a brilliant community of scientists that share knowledge and push towards new insights. We contribute to knowledge on marine ecosystem functioning, essential to conservation, and have great networking opportunities. 

The future of women in science

Generally inclusiveness in science for all minorities remains a challenge. In too many research institutions, permanent positions with high responsibilities are still too often offered to men while women are often in precarious positions. Women still hold less than 20% of senior roles in universities and research centers, for example. As MaCoBioS we need to continue pushing for equal opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This still requires huge efforts; a small part of it is recognizing work done by the female and minority groups in the scientific community, promoting and rewarding those achievements.

Some of our experts on the international scene (from left to right): Emily Boyd - Professor at Lund University, Patricia Ricard - President of the the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute

Nonetheless, we hope for a bright and promising future ahead with increasing opportunities for women to be heard and make the world a better place for us all. We have advanced a lot in supporting and encouraging participation of women in science over the last years. We are increasingly leaving behind misconceptions that women are unsuited to science or traditional perceptions of scientists being male and dressed in lab coats. But we need to go a step further. In particular, we need to support women to take key roles in decision making in research (funding or leadership). This should be done not only by raising the quota of women participating in research projects, but by spreading awareness on gender equality and encouraging women to innovate and lead. Many new projects such as MaCoBioS present a large number of brilliant women scientists with diverse backgrounds.

Our message to girls that want to become scientists

Science is as diverse as the people who work within it covering topics commonly studied at school such as biology and chemistry through to social and political science and everything in between. Increasingly the lines between these topics are blurred and they integrate all sorts of methods from fieldwork to mathematics and computer science. There are also all kinds of scientists, if you are curious and always looking to learn more you can definitely become one. Continue to be curious, anytime, everywhere, always! Let your eyes and mind always be surprised by new discoveries and experiences. This will allow you to be always eager for new knowledge.

“Science is a beautiful path but one that isn’t easy and you need to be prepared to overcome many obstacles on your way. Sometimes you will succeed but others you won´t. The key is perseverance and resilience.” Dr Gema Casal, Postdoctoral Researcher, Maynooth University

However, becoming a scientist requires a lot of work and a bit of luck. You need to be rigorous, patient and surrounded by the right people who will support you not only in your research work, but also emotionally and financially. Here are a few tips from our experience: 1. Network from the start – opportunities come to those who are known! 2. Think local – Find your local issues, team up with experts around the corner, and take on tractable research questions. 3. Keep up and constantly improve your maths and communication skills – transferable skills are key!

“Becoming a scientist is tough no matter your gender, but still even more so for women, BUT if it is your dream, don’t let gender matters or anything else hold you back and go for it!” Dr. Cindy Cornet, Research Fellow, University of Portsmouth

If science is your passion you need to follow it, no matter if your field is filled with mostly men or older generations. Try to convert these challenges into opportunities, and to be a source of inspiration embracing your femininity, knowledge and skills. Be strong and brave, work in teams, fulfill your ideas and work for achieving your objectives and goals. Believe in yourself, be curious and explore areas that interest you.  Especially, don’t hold back, don’t doubt yourself. Go ahead, we need you!

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Silvia de Juan
Lisa-Becking
Giogia Verri
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Montserrat Demestre
Catarina Fonseca
Elena Allegri_CMCC
Julie Hawkins UNEXE
Bethan_O'Leary
Fabiola Espinoza Cordova
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Andrea Zita_Botelho
Mialy Andriamahefazafy
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Emily Boyd
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Cristina Seijo_FGF

Find out more about our team of amazing women by checking out our ‘Meet our Experts’  page.

Text by: Elena Allegri, Mialy Andriamahefazafy, Emily Boyd, Gema Casal, Cindy Cornet, Karima Degia, Fabiola Espinoza, Catarina Fonseca, Elisa Furlan, Silvia de Juan, Alicia N’Guetta, Géraldine Pérez, Bethan O’Leary, Hazel Oxenford, Patricia Ricard, Louisa Wood

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It is a well-known fact that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the seafloor. For example, we know that on average the ocean is 3 km deep, but this doesn’t account for outliers like the Mariana Trench, which stretches to depths of 11 km. So, if we don’t even know the exact volume of the oceans, how can we manage them fairly and sustainably? There are many issues that must be addressed to fully understand and protect the oceans for future generations and maps are fundamental tools to advance research in this regard.

Although the ocean is vast, marine life is not uniformly distributed within it, and some ecosystems are more biologically rich than others. Coastal ecosystems generally contain more oxygen and nutrients and are warmer and sunlit. Thus, they are more diverse than open ocean ecosystems. Understanding and being able to visually represent these differences using mapping techniques is essential to monitor and properly manage marine ecosystems. Without this information we risk depleting vital resources and causing irreversible damage.

How do we map marine ecosystems?

The traditional and most commonly used sources of information to create maps of marine ecosystems are in-situ measurements, taken directly from the area of interest. Depending on the accessibility of the area, the logistical and equipment requirements can range from a pair of boots to SCUBA diving gear and even include oceanographic vessels, if mapping occurs in open ocean.

Another way of obtaining information that allows us to map marine ecosystems are remote sensing techniques, through satellite observations, for example. These techniques, in combination with traditional methods, have significantly contributed to updating navigational charts with coastline and bathymetric data, to mapping the distribution and types of coastal ecosystems and to monitoring the condition of coral reefs, amongst others.

In some cases, direct detection of ecosystems or species is not feasible with remote sensing techniques, for example due to depth or turbidity. Instead, indirect detection may be possible by observation and modelling of associated sea surface phenomena. For example, changes in ocean colour from blue to green may serve as an indicator of increasing plankton abundance. The green colour is associated with the presence of chlorophyll; the light retaining phytoplankton pigments. Water temperature is another important factor in determining ecosystems and species distribution. Thermal sensors can be used to produce maps of the sea surface temperature, which can be used to identify different water masses and draw boundaries among them.

Credits: Afonso Prestes, 2021

Beyond biophysical techniques

Both in-situ and remote sensing observations are techniques that provide information to map marine ecosystems from a biophysical perspective, i.e., based on biological, physical and chemical features, but they can also be mapped from a social perspective. Highly relevant maps based on human perceptions and socioeconomic knowledge on marine ecosystems can be produced for monitoring and management purposes. As an example, this link gives access to a publication on ecosystem services mapping in the Azores Archipelago, led by our partners from Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso (FGF). Despite not being a MaCoBioS case study area, the FGF team is developing complementary work in this European Union Outermost Region from Portugal, because its natural and social contexts and specificities make it a very interesting hotspot to study and map socio-ecological relationships in the coastal/marine environment.

Furthermore, along with Maynooth University (Ireland), the FGF team is supporting all the MaCoBioS partners in terms of remote sensing data prospecting, processing and analysis, to fill existing gaps in the characterization, assessment and monitoring of the project’s case study areas. The FGF will also set up the MaCoBioS WebGIS platform, an online tool with geospatial capabilities for partners, stakeholders and the general public to visualize and analyse the georeferenced project’s outputs.

Text by Cristina Seijo and Artur Gil

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Consideration of coastal communities’ heterogeneities, dependencies, needs, and priorities is crucial to ensure that science and adaptation policies and projects contribute to minimize and avoid loss and damage. My research will provide a better understanding of adaptation limits and how to address loss and damage induced by climate change on people and societies.  To achieve “The Science We Need For The Ocean We Want” as part of the UN Ocean Decade we must ensure that communities relying on coastal and marine ecosystem services are fully considered in our projects to ensure a more sustainable future.

Description: Itsamia, Moheli, Comoros. Photo credit: Alicia N’guetta

EndNotes

My research also takes place in the context of a Lund University project called Recasting the Disproportionate Impacts of Climate Change Extremes (DICE) that focus on advancing the conceptualisation, measurement, and governance of loss and damage. To learn more please click here.
To learn more please read the article “Climate Change and Ecosystem Services – Implications for Present and Future Loss and Damage to People and  Society” in EcoMagazine-Rising Seas Edition 2021 here.

Text by Alicia N’Guetta

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Adaptation has become the centre of Small Island States’ (SIS) political response to cope with the impacts of climate change. Efforts to mainstream coastal adaptation policy among different sectors and improved access to international funds to meet adaptation costs have led to an increase in the number of adaptation projects. For SIS that depend on marine and coastal ecosystems, some interventions such as the construction of coastal protective structures and mangrove and coral restoration are increasingly being promoted as adaptation strategies. However, whilst this should be a cause for celebration, there is growing evidence that current interventions are failing to reduce the vulnerability of those people who are supposed to be supported by these very adaptation actions. But why are current efforts not necessarily reducing vulnerability? And what can we do to overcome these challenges so as to produce outcomes that are just and sustainable?
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In this special issue of Eco Magazine -Rising Seas 2021, I unravel these questions by highlighting the role of power dynamics and worldviews in the governance of climate change adaptation. It is common that adaptation goals and priorities are set up and decided upon by people in positions of power, either intentionally, due to political decisions, or inadvertently, due to poorly designed and executed interventions. In doing so, the intended beneficiaries are often left out. For example, the construction of infrastructure as a flood protection strategy has proven to be effective in reducing the vulnerability of SIS to sea level rise, but is frequently implemented by those who have the power to do so, with a particular vision and interest in mind. This affects access to key resources and livelihoods, typically impacting groups who already tend to be marginalized. In this sense, if scientists and policy-makers truly want to reframe adaptation interventions, we must understand how these interventions are interconnected with the wider processes of political and social dynamics. Not only must we must understand ‘who decides what’, but also how values, interests and desired goals are weighted in decision making, and how this can affect the success of adaptation interventions. As the latest IPPC report highlights, with ocean warming, sea level rise and other changes to marine and coastal ecosystems expected to continue in the coming years, coastal adaptation as a policy response to climate change must be prioritized, now more than ever. While this is an indisputable challenge for policy makers and coastal communities, by considering how power and different values, beliefs and worldviews influence the design and institutional interventions of adaptation, we can use this opportunity to rethink current approaches and push for fairer and more equitable pathways.

To read the full article “More than Fixed Solutions: Power and Different Worldviews in Framing Coastal Adaptation Actions” in EcoMagazine-Rising Seas 2021 click here.

Text by Fabiola Espinoza

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Video : Using eDNA to monitor marine ecosystems

Environmental DNA We have experimented eDNA as a new technique for species and ecosystems monitoring.  As part of the French Coral Reef Initiative (IFRECOR), fish communities have been monitored since 2001 in Martinique (oldest station: Pointe Borgnesse at Le Marin). About 128 species have been observed, counted and size-estimated on

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05/11/2021

Monitoring a seagrass bed at a seascape level: Overcoming challenges with technology

Monitoring a seagrass bed at a seascape level: Overcoming challenges with technology

Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds are the most important marine ecosystems along the relatively shallow waters of the Mediterranean coast. These meadows can be found from the shore up to 30-35 m of depth and spread along a considerable distance. The French cartographic database of Posidonia distribution and health status is quite complete. However, the monitoring of this ecosystem is often done under the same conditions, i.e., in the centre of the meadow at an average depth of 15 m. Yet, to study biodiversity patterns and assess the services provided by this ecosystem at the seascape level, we need to monitor seagrass beds at various points from the upper to the lower depth limit, including the interfaces with other habitats. While monitoring meadows is easily achieved on land, it becomes very challenging underwater. According to the choice of the study area, such monitoring allows to study the global health status of Posidonia ecosystem under different levels of human pressures. Our fieldwork last month (July 2021) at Cap Sicié in the South of France aimed at monitoring this ecosystem using novel approaches to overcome those challenges. This specific site of Cap Sicié presents a strong gradient of habitat quality from healthy to degraded which offers the advantage to explore the ecological responses in terms of biodiversity and produced ecosystem services.
Posidonia meadow. Photo credit: Rémy Simide
Because most fish and invertebrates are hidden inside the canopy formed by Posidonia leaves that can reach up to 1 meter in length, they are very difficult to observe using traditional visual censuses. We used novel techniques like bioacoustics to characterise the associated benthic fauna. This method allows us to listen to the environment within hundreds of meters in all directions. Many marine invertebrate species produce sounds when eating, moving or communicating. We are then able to hear all these sounds as long as we have a highly sensitive hydrophone to record them and a skilful set of ears and software to interpret this biophony.
The hydrophone deployed underwater to record the biophony. Photo credit: Rémy Simide
However, to evaluate the ecosystem and its services at a precise spatial scale, direct observation by divers is still a very accurate option. Since we are not aquatic species, it is hard to spend a lot of time underwater, moving fast, being located in this 3D environment or see far away. These limitations explain why monitoring at a seascape level can be difficult to achieve. Fortunately, thanks to innovative tools these challenges can be overcome. Indeed, using close circuit rebreather (CCR), dry suits and waterproof scooters, we were able to spend more time in the water and to move faster between each sampling point. Underwater navigation between sampling points was further facilitated by wireless geolocated waterproof tablets. We were pretty heavy underwater with this complete set of tools, but we still had space to carry our sampling materials. At each sampling point, we characterised the structural complexity of the habitat by 3D photogrammetry, made in situ samplings, evaluation of benthic communities and assessment of fish diversity that will be complimentary to the biodiversity assessed through bioacoustics.
One of our divers with his complete equipment (close circuit rebreather, dry suit, waterproof scooters, wireless geolocated waterproof tablets) doing in situ sampling. Photo credit: Rémy Simide
During our first round of fieldwork this summer, we monitored a 3 km long seagrass bed with a strong gradient of health conditions due to wastewater flow. The first part of the mission included an adjustment period to master all the material and complete multiple sampling protocols in only a few minutes per sampling point. In the end, we obtained an excellent ecological overview of this large area. We are excited and impatient to sample the next station in the National Park of Port Cros and to analyse the data.

Text by Géraldine Pérez and Rémy Simide

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