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Biological Oceanography
in a Changing Ocean
Research
OceanNETs will investigate the feasibility and impacts of emerging ocean-based NETs through a transdisciplinary research approach. We will establish if ocean-based NETs can play a substantial and sustainable role in medium-to-long term pathways that achieve climate neutrality from the perspective of reaching the Paris Agreement goals. The impacts of ocean-based NETs on society and the Earth system will also be determined. Analyses will account for both risks and co-benefits, as well as any feedbacks these may have on NET efficacy and feasibility. The project will contribute to major international, national, and EU assessments of possible climate mitigation options.
The Ocean plays a crucial role in the global C cycle, acting as a sink and thus slowing the rate of climate change. Ocean ICU will measure key biological processes within the biological C pump and evaluate their overall significance, transferring those that are important into models that inform the IPCC process and, in this way, contribute to resolving the observed model data mismatch of Ocean C sink estimates. They will use the acquired fundamental knowledge around biological systems to evaluate the ability of human interventions in the ocean to alter the carbon cycle and produce management tools that allow the tension between resource extraction and C storage to be addressed.
The project FLUCARO aims to replace and update a previously existing service of sediment traps at the European Station for Time Series in the Ocean Canary Islands (ESTOC, 29º 10' N, 15º 30' W) which was in active service between 1991 to 2009. Its porpoise is to continuing with the objetive of addressing long time series of sedimentation rates and remineralization of particles which provide a valuable global benchmark for tracking ocean health, particularly for ecosystems at depth and an experimental framework for studying seasonal and inter-annual ecosystem dynamics. Furthermore, FLUCARO will complement the current CO2 monitoring system at STOC as well as to contribute to the prevailing need to record highly demanded marine biogeochemical data to update climate models.
This project aims to assess the relevance of oceanic subtropical cyclonic (C) and anticyclonic (A) mesoscale eddies in the context of the Biological Pump (i.e. the production of organic matter and its transport to the deep ocean). To achieve this goal, we will study the linkage in the dynamics of mesoscale (O~100 km) and sub-mesoscale (O~10 km) physical processes and their biological and biogeochemical impacts, along the life history of C and A eddies (from their generation to a mature stage), in the Canary Current Corridor. The project will combine traditional oceanographic sampling with novel instrumentation (e.g. buoys and gliders) to sample down to the sub-mesoscale.
The hypothesis and general objective of this project is to verify if the sea surface temperature increase, together with the micro- and macronutrient fertilization that may result from natural upwelling (due to an increase in mesoscale process’ occurrence) and/or atmospheric deposition (caused by the potential aerosol intensification), have a combined effect on primary production and phytoplankton community structure. The temperature increase and intensified fertilization rates may be causing a shift in phytoplankton populations, which may become dominated by larger species. Thus, potentially posing alterations in higher trophic levels (fish). The study will be conducted through controlled experiments in which the covariation between fertilization rates and temperature will be analysed.
Sustainable management of human activities affecting Atlantic marine ecosystems is critical to maintain their health and to support the blue economy of the bordering countries. TRIATLAS will contribute to this purpose by delivering knowledge of the current state and future changes of the Atlantic marine ecosystems. We achieve this through a basin-wide approach that integrates research from the North and South, and that closes critical knowledge gaps in the Tropical and South Atlantic that currently impede a complete understanding of the entire basin.
The mesopelagic layer is one of the least understood ecosystems on Earth. Recent research suggests that the fish biomass in the mesopelagic ecosystem might be 10 times higher than previously thought, and therefore represent 90 % of the fish biomass of the entire planet. SUMMER will establish a protocol to accurately estimate mesopelagic fish biomass, quantify the ecosystem services provided by the mesopelagic community (food, climate regulation and potential for bioactive compounds) and develop a decision support tool to measure the trade-offs between the different services.
The focus of this project is to monitor Trichodesmium blooms in the Canary Islands, consolidate the predictive model developed in the previous Trichodesmium project, control the possible beneficial or adverse effects of the blooms and, in the last place, control pathogens associated to Trichodesmium mucilages dragged to the coasts.
The main goal of FLUXES is to quantify the relevance of labile and semi-labile dissolved (DOC) and suspended (POCs) organic carbon (i.e. non-sinking organic carbon) in the context of the biological pump (BP), in Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems (EBUE). The Cape Blanc region (NW Africa), characterized by a rich mesoscale variability resulting from the interaction of the upwelling system and the Cape Verde Frontal Zone that built up the Giant Filament, will be used as a case study. We want to test the hypothesis that offshore lateral advection of POCs, as well as secondary circulation at the submesoscale range and vertical mixing of DOC and POCs, contribute significantly to the export of organic carbon in EBUE.
The focus of the SCOR Working Group 155 is reviewing the existing knowledge on EBUS and formulate a strategic recommendation white paper for setting up regional observational systems and climate modeling approaches to monitor and understand physical and biogeochemical ocean-atmosphere processes. These observational systems will be instrumental in improving the performance and reliability of climate models in these socio-economically relevant regions of the world ocean.
This working group will bring together experts in observation, experimentation, data analyses, and modelling to systematically compile and compare data sets of mesopelagic microbial respiration in order to constrain respiration uncertainties and improve quantifications of organic matter flux and remineralisation rates. A final outcome will be to improve projections of the effects of global change on the decline of oxygen in the world’s oceans, with implications for fisheries and food security. The outputs of ReMO will have a high impact on future ocean research as they will enable efficient use of the wealth of data currently collected by autonomous instruments in the oceans.
PRIMUS is an international multidisciplinary project funded by ESA that aims to substantially advance our existing understanding on the link between net primary production (NPP) and wind-forced upwelling in Atlantic Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (EBUS), through combining Earth Observation (EO) data obtained from satellite remote sensing, with upwelling and climate indices, data collected in-situ, and ocean circulation modelling.
The aim of this project is to study the fertilization effect of Trichodesmium spp blooms on the Canary Islands waters, which could lead to an increase in primary production. The progressive temperature increase and water column stratification occurring in the Canary Islands region has resulted into recurrent Trichodesmium blooms in the last few years. When colonies aggregate in the surface, they collapse and die, liberating high inorganic nutrient and organic matter concentrations to the water column (before sinking), which favour the exuberating growth of other planktonic organisms, acting as a fertilizer in the marine food web. If our hypothesis is correct, the increasing occurrence of Trichodesmium blooms in the near future could partially palliate the reduction in primary productivity in the Canary region as predicted by climatic models, due to the sea surface progressive warming.