Das Projekt "Marine protected areas for the conservation of marine top predators (MPACONTOP)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH - UFZ, Department Ökologische Systemanalyse durchgeführt. The state of the global oceans is rapidly deteriorating due to the effect of human activities, and the risk of extinction to marine species is far greater than previously thought. The main threat to the marine environment is posed by over-fishing, which has resulted, in many cases, in extinctions of both target and incidentally caught species, including marine top predators (e.g. large pelagic fish, turtles, cetaceans, and seabirds). Seabirds belonging to the order Procellariiformes are amongst the most pelagic of seabirds and occur in all of the world's oceans. Although Procellariiformes face many threats at their breeding habitat, fishing activity is their main conservation problem since many thousands of birds are killed annually by longline fisheries and populations have shown marked declines over the last decades, especially in the Southern Ocean. The proposed research will develop effective conservation strategies for marine top predators, taking into account their spatiotemporal population dynamics as well as the dynamics of longline fisheries. Our modeling approach will be based on data from the Tracking Ocean Wanderers conservation initiative, which covers over 90Prozent of all extant Procellariiformes tracking data. The complexity of these challenges requires a multidisciplinary approach which integrates the most recent techniques of GIS-based habitat modeling, individual-based and spatially-explicit, pattern-oriented, population viability analyses and multi-criteria decision analysis, which will be develop in a world leading center of ecological modeling, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ. This combined approach will facilitate the identification of suitable habitat for the implementation of marine protected areas for the conservation of marine top predators in the Southern Ocean, as well as simulations performance in order to assess the effectiveness of different fishery management scenarios, which is impossible at sea.
Das Projekt "Teilprojekt B4: Auswirkungen nordatlantischer Variabilität auf klimarelevante Prozesse in der Barentsseee" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hamburg, Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, Institut für Meereskunde (IfM) durchgeführt. Das Teilprojekt B4 trägt zur übergeordneten Fragestellung des SFB 512, der Untersuchung der Grundzustände des nordatlantischen Klimasystems und seiner Variabilität auf verschiedenen Zeitskalen, durch die Untersuchung der Übertragungsmechanismen atmosphärischer Variabilität auf den Ozean im Bereich der arktischen Schelfe bei. Die Barentssee und die Karasee stellen, als Teil des Arktischen Ozeans, eine Schlüsselregion im Klimasystem des Nordatlantiks dar, denn in ihrem Bereich findet die &Uml;bertragung von atmosphärischen Anomalien auf den Ozean über die klimarelavanten Prozesse Eisbildung, Konvektion und der daraus folgenden Wassermassentransformation statt. Die Intensität der klimarelevanten Schelfprozesse ist abhängig von den lokalen, atmosphärischen Bedingungen aber auch von den hydrographischen Verhältnissen, die wiederum von dem nordatlantischen Einstrom und den Festlandsabflüssen entlang der norwegischen Küste geprägt sind. Damit kommt der Barentssee eine zentrale Bedeutung bei der Übertragung nordatlantischer Klimasignale auf den Arktischen Ozean zu. Die Arbeiten im TP B4 haben ihren Schwerpunkt in der Erfassung niederfrequenter Variabilität von Hydrographie, Zirkulation und Eisbildung im Hinblick auf Konvektion und Wassermassentransformation. Ein Hauptziel des Teilprojekts ist die Quantifizierung und Bilanzierung der interannual variierenden Wärme- und Feuchteflüsse, die in globalen Atmosphären- und Ozeanmodellen aufgrund der groben Auflösung häufig unterschätzt werden. Darüber hinaus sollen erstmals auch advektive Wärme- und Frischwasserflüsse aus der Barentssee in den arktischen Ozean mit Hilfe eines regionalen numerischen Modells für die vergangen vier Dekaden rekonstruiert werden. Von diesen Daten sind wichtige Hinweise auf den Übertragunsgweg von atmosphärischer Variabilität auf den Ozean im Bereich der Dekadenskala zu erwarten.
Das Projekt "Further developing the pan-European infrastructure for marine and ocean data management (SeaDataCloud)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Institut Francais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer durchgeführt. The SeaDataNet pan-European infrastructure has been developed by NODCs and major research institutes from 34 countries. Over 100 marine data centres are connected and provide discovery and access to data resources for all European researchers. Moreover, SeaDataNet is a key infrastructure driving several portals of the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet), initiated by EU DG-MARE for Marine Knowledge, MSFD, and Blue Growth. SeaDataNet complements the Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Service (CMEMS), coordinated by EU DG-GROW. However, more effective and convenient access is needed to better support European researchers. The standards, tools and services developed must be reviewed and upgraded to keep pace with demand, such as developments of new sensors, and international and IT standards. Also EMODnet and Copernicus pose extra challenges to boost performance and foster INSPIRE compliance. More data from more data providers must be made available, from European and international research projects and observing programmes.
SeaDataCloud aims at considerably advancing SeaDataNet services and increasing their usage, adopting cloud and HPC technology for better performance. More users will be engaged and for longer sessions by including advanced services in a Virtual Research Environment. Researchers will be empowered with a collection of services and tools, tailored to their specific needs, supporting marine research and enabling generation of added-value products. Data concern the wide range of in situ observations and remote sensing data. To have access to the latest cloud technology and facilities, SeaDataNet will cooperate with EUDAT, a network of computing infrastructures that develop and operate a common framework for managing scientific data across Europe. SeaDataCloud will improve services to users and data providers, optimise connecting data centres and streams, and interoperate with other European and international networks.
Das Projekt "OCEAN SENTINEL" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique durchgeführt. Fisheries are operating worldwide over nation's Economic Exclusive Zones (EEZ) as well as over international waters. Information on the location of fishing is rarely known, especially in international waters, yet it is critical since in many oceanic sectors non declared and illegal fisheries are affecting negatively ecosystems through over exploitation and by catch of non-target species Knowledge about the distribution of fishing boats is fundamental for the regulation of fishing activities as well for the conservation of the oceans. I propose a New Concept of ocean surveillance based on new bio-logging technologies fitted on large foraging marine predators. The OCEAN SENTINEL Proof of this Concepts will (1) develop a logger called CENTURION that couple a XGPS platform detecting and locating radar emissions, with a satellite transmission system (Argos) that would send instantaneously the location of vessels to a receiving site, (2) deploy the logger on wide ranging animals used as platforms and (3) make available immediately the information obtained from the CENTURION logger through a website. The OCEAN SENTINEL programme will generate important social benefits by providing information to a wide range of beneficiaries, from governments or regional authorities managing EEZ and natural resources, regional or national fishing authorities, researchers and non-governmental organisation in conservation. The concept will be tested in the Southern Indian Ocean from Crozet and Kerguelen Islands where valuable and extensive fisheries operate in EEZs and over oceanic waters. This concept has the potential to be used in other areas where information on fisheries location is needed. The project will also lead to further discoveries on the relationship between seabirds and fisheries as well on the extent of fisheries in zones where surveillance by conventional methods is not possible.