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Project

FutureMARES: Climate Change and Future Marine Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity

Underwater scene at Croatia. Image courtesy of Lino Thaesler, Unsplash

Active project

Project start: September 2020  |  Project end: August 2024
Funder: EU H2020
Principal Investigator: Dr Ana M Queirós
Other participants from PML: Dr Paul J. Somerfield
Website: https://www.futuremares.eu/

FutureMARES is examining the relations between climate change, marine biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The goal of the project is to provide science-based policy advice on how best to use nature-based solutions to protect future biodiversity and ecosystem services in a future climate. This is designed around three nature-based solutions: effective restoration, effective conservation and sustainable harvesting of marine resources.

Socially and economically viable actions and strategies will be devised for climate change adapatation and mitigation. These will work to safeguard future biodiversity and ecosystem functions to maximise natural capital and its delivery of services from marine and transistional ecosystems.

The main objectives of FutureMARES are:

  • Understand the links between ecological functions and ecosystem services
  • Deliver projections of future climate change hotspots and refugia
  • Explore climate change impacts in field and mesocosm experiments
  • Project climate change effects on marine species and biodiversity
  • Conduct novel socio-ecological vulnerability assessments
  • Perform economic analyses of different nature-based solutions
  • Test implementation strategies including bio-economic analysis
  • Co-create our research activities with decision- and policy-makers
  • Communicate & engage with a broad range of stakeholders in our focus regions

Research is being conducted in five case study regions across the globe including the NE Atlantic and North Sea, the Baltic Sea, Bay of Biscay, Caribbean and SE Pacific and the Mediterranean Sea.

PML will be leading the development of new capability to project the impacts of climate change on species of high value to real-life conservation, restoration and harvesting programmes in the UK and its EU partner countries. We will be working with practitioners around the EU to support the co-development of climate-smart management strategies. For instance, more locally to PML, we will be working the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Impact

The project will work with leading EU research institutions and high level global ocean stakeholders and practioners towards a better management of UK and EU marine species and habitats.