Objective
"The overall goal of the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA) is to fill the numerous
gaps in our understanding of the effects and implications of ocean acidification.
EPOCA aims to document the changes in ocean chemistry and biogeography across space and time.
Paleo-reconstruction methods will be used on several archives, including foraminifera and deep-sea
corals, to determine past variability in ocean chemistry and to tie these to present-day chemical and
biological observations.
EPOCA will determine the sensitivity of marine organisms, communities and ecosystems to ocean
acidification. Molecular to biochemical, physiological and ecological approaches will be combined
with laboratory and field-based perturbation experiments to quantify biological responses to ocean
acidification, assess the potential for adaptation, and determine the consequences for biogeochemical
cycling. Laboratory experiments will focus on key organisms selected on the basis of their ecological,
biogeochemical or socio-economic importance. Field studies will be carried out in systems deemed
most sensitive to ocean acidification.
Results on the chemical, biological and biogeochemical impacts of ocean acidification will be integrated
in biogeochemical, sediment and coupled ocean-climate models to better understand and predict
the responses of the Earth system to ocean acidification. Special special attention will be paid to the
potential feedbacks of the physiological changes in the carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and iron cycles.
EPOCA will assess uncertainties, risks and thresholds (""tipping points"") related to ocean acidification
at scales ranging from sub-cellular, to ecosystem and from local to global. It will also assess pathways
of CO2 emissions required to avoid these thresholds and describe the state change and the subsequent
risk to the marine environment and Earth system should these emissions be exceeded."
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-ENV-2007-1
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
CP-IP - Large-scale integrating projectCoordinator
75794 Paris
France
Participants (27)
5020 Bergen
24148 Kiel
SN2 1EU Swindon Wilthshire
27570 Bremerhaven
CB2 1TN Cambridge
75015 Paris 15
PL1 3DH Plymouth
PA37 1QA Dunbeg Oban
80539 Munchen
PL1 2PB Plymouth
405 30 Goeteborg
1797 SZ Den Hoorn Texel
3584 CS Utrecht
1011 JV Amsterdam
PL1 2PB Plymouth
21502 Geesthacht
3012 Bern
1050 Bruxelles
05400 Veynes
1081 HV Amsterdam
8092 Zuerich
101 Reykjavik
SO17 1BJ Southampton
PL4 8AA Plymouth
75352 Paris
BS8 1QU Bristol
Participation ended
24148 Kiel