Ocean environmental conditions are being rapidly altered due to human action. Two of the main resulting changes are Ocean Warming (OW) and Ocean Acidification (OA) which are the fundamental changes explored within the framework of the SHIFT2SOLVE project. Ocean Warming influences the fate of foundation species in coastal habitats such as seagrasses and macroalgae at different levels of organisation (from their physiology to their structure and functioning). Severe changes in the seawater temperature have resulted in important contractions of these habitats. Similarly, OA resulting from the incorporation of 25% of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions implies a shift in the carbonate system that may have important consequences for primary producers as well. While there is already sufficient knowledge on the effects of OW on marine vegetation and of OA on marine calcifying organisms mostly, there is still a lack of research on the combined effects on marine vegetation species.
The consideration of marine vegetation species as a tipping element of the planetary system has been largely overlooked. These systems contribute disproportionally to climate regulation having a key role in the carbon cycle, and being important habitats for global carbon sequestration. At the same time, they suffer important contractions and can tip over when levels of a variety of stressors are surpassed (e.g. light limitation, eutrophication, pollution, grazing). The knowledge derived from the project will contribute to preserving the maximum mitigation capacity possible related to these habitats while contributing to developing ocean-based solutions. The project is aligned with European and international societal priorities for climate action, the efficiency of resources and the Sustainable Development GOALS on Life below water and Climate action. SHIFT2SOLVE will eventually also contribute to a better description of marine vegetation as tipping elements and their capacity to acclimate to future ocean conditions. This is relevant given the IPCC expected projections at the end of the century (RCP 4.5 8.5).
SHIFT2SOLVE proposed to contribute to this gap of knowledge and at its completion, we expect the contribution to be significant. The project timely explores the capacity of marine vegetation (as a tipping element) to acclimate to changing ocean environmental conditions helping to better comprehend the capacity of these habitats to provide amelioration capacity. The general aim of the project is to provide the scientific basis for marine macrophyte and macroalgal systems under present and future climatic conditions contributing to safeguarding the maximum mitigation capacity to contribute to the Earth System resilience. The specific project objectives are:
- Quantifying macrophytes capacity to buffer environmental change.
- Assessing the acclimatization and adaptive capacity.
- Forecasting future scenarios.
- Identifying ecosystem contractions (landscape approach) by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (AUV) and machine learning.
