Marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea faces rapid decline due to climate-driven stressors, particularly the increasing frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves. While shallow ecosystems have been widely studied, mesophotic and deep-water habitats (30–150 m and >200 m) remain poorly characterised and largely unprotected, despite hosting vulnerable benthic communities such as coralline algae and corals. These ecosystems play a crucial role in carbonate production, biodiversity maintenance, and potentially as climate refugia.
The HopeWaves project addresses these knowledge gaps by linking oceanographic processes, particularly internal waves, with the development and resilience of mesophotic carbonate systems. Research activities focused on two submarine banks located between Malta and Sicily in Sicilian channel, the central Mediterranean, selected as natural laboratories to study contrasting geomorphologies and hydrodynamic regimes. The overall objective is to understand how internal-wave activity influences habitat distribution, carbonate production, and the preservation of both recent and ancient bioconstructions.
By integrating seafloor mapping, sedimentological and biological analyses, and long-term oceanographic datasets, the project contributes to a more complete understanding of how physical drivers sustain vulnerable benthic ecosystems. The expected pathway to impact involves producing open-access data and models to inform marine spatial planning, biodiversity protection, and EU policy frameworks such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, and the Mission Restore Our Ocean and Waters.
