Projects

The assessment and monitoring of microbial plankton biodiversity are essential to obtain a robust evaluation of the health status of marine environments. While bulk marine photosynthetic plankton is a proxy for the fundamental ecological process of primary production, the specific composition of the microbial community is key to unveiling a number of biogeochemical processes such as nitrogen fixation, carbon sequestration, oxic-anoxic remineralization and ocean acidification, that provide valuable indications on ecosystems dynamics and health. PETRI-MED will focus on the Mediterranean Sea, widely recognized as one of the world’s most important marine and coastal biodiversity hotspots, providing relevant ecosystem and cultural services to millions of citizens. The aim of the project is to develop novel strategies to monitor the status and spatio-temporal trends of microbial plankton community composition and function, based on satellite observations

The main objectives of PETRI-MED are:

• Develop novel satellite-based indicators to determine and monitor the status and trends of microbial plankton community composition and biodiversity in the entire Mediterranean Sea.
• Identify spatio-temporal patterns of microbial plankton community distribution and diversity.
• Identify key controls of biodiversity patterns, including ecological connectivity, natural and human-related forcings, by focusing on key indicators of ocean’s health/biogeochemical state.

To do so, PETRI-MED will largely rely on satellite optical radiometric measurements (so-called Ocean Colour, OC), exploiting the combined temporal and spatial characteristics of latest OC European datasets (i.e., Copernicus Sentinel-3 and European Space Agency OC-CCI) with state-of-the-art remote sensing observations and biogeochemical models (as provided by Copernicus Marine), marine currents modelling, and genomic techniques. To achieve the ambitious goal of merging remote sensing, biogeochemical/physical modelling, and in situ omics measurements, PETRI-MED will rely on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Project outputs will be communicated at three levels: (i) monitoring results, best practices, and policy recommendations through dialogue with the stakeholders; (ii) dissemination to the general public; and (iii) scientific results via peer-reviewed journals. The overall goal of PETRI-MED is to provide policy makers and other stakeholders with the adequate knowledge to: (i) permit the adoption of prioritization approaches to ecosystem management based on quantitative and real-time metrics; (ii) design and implement different protection strategies and policies to protect biodiversity; (iii) quantify the results of implemented actions at both European, basin and local level; (iv) enable systematic, fact-supported, and area-based management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Key Biodiversity Areas, and Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas; (v) determine complementarity between MPAs through different mechanisms (e.g. UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Ramsar sites, private protected areas, etc.); and (vi) evaluate the viability of MPA management in response to climate change.

Webpage: https://www.ita-slo.eu/en/bluecrab