Towards the Sustainable Development of the Atlantic Ocean: Mapping and Assessing the present and future status of Atlantic marine ecosystems under the influence of climate change and exploitation

Project Information

MISSION ATLANTIC

Grant agreement ID: 862428

DOI

10.3030/862428

Project closed

EC signature date 4 May 2020

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 31 January 2026

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 11 564 092,50

EU contribution

€ 11 501 717,50

Coordinated by

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - MISSION ATLANTIC (Towards the Sustainable Development of the Atlantic Ocean: Mapping and Assessing the present and future status of Atlantic marine ecosystems under the influence of climate change and exploitation)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

MISSION ATLANTIC develops and systematically applies Integrated Ecosystem Assessments (IEAs) in the Atlantic Ocean. IEAs enable identification of ecosystem components most at risk from natural hazards and the consequences of human activities. The project employs all available information on those sources, the pressures they impose and the ecosystem components that are affected, to identify the most important risk factors for sustainable development of the Atlantic Ocean. MISSION ATLANTIC develops and tests high-resolution numerical ocean ecosystem models, as well as employing advanced statistical approaches, artificial neural networks, and risk assessment methods in support of the IEA cycle. Cross-Atlantic seagoing activities will collect new observations on the shelf and open ocean, across benthic and pelagic biomes, to validate ecosystem models and explore the biogeography of plankton and fish communities. Advanced combinations of marine robotic solutions and acoustic sensors are further developed and deployed to provide new data and to deliver the next generation of autonomous systems in support of IEAs.

The ambition in MISSION ATLANTIC is to advance the Operational Readiness Level (ORL) of the Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach (IEA) in each case study area (CS) and at the whole Atlantic basin-scale providing: data, models, indicators and an engaged forum of stakeholders to present, discuss and validate project's results. The specific case study areas considered are: Norwegian Sea, Celtic Sea, Canary Current system, North Mid Atlantic Ridge, South Mid Atlantic Ridge, Benguela Current, South Brazilian Shelf.

MISSION ATLANTIC aims at supporting the “All Atlantic Ocean research alliance” and the implementation of the Galway and Belem statements. In 2017, the European Union, South Africa and Brazil and co-signed the Belém statement on Atlantic Research and Innovation Cooperation for the South and tropical Atlantic and Southern Ocean. Following the Galway Statement, which focuses on North-Atlantic cooperation, the Belém statement furthers the integrated approach to research and development across the whole Atlantic Ocean and its bordering countries.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

MISSION ATLANTIC aims to enhance the Operational Readiness Level (ORL) of Integrated Ecosystem Assessments (IEA) across case study areas (CS) and the entire Atlantic Ocean basin. During the recent reporting period (RP3), the project has made significant progress towards this goal, achieving key objectives and focusing on dissemination and stakeholder engagement. In total MISSION ATLANTIC has successfully submitted 29 deliverables (27 deliverables approved) and achieved 34 Milestones. During RP3, 2 Deliverables and 12 Milestones have been completed. MISSION ATLANTIC continues building an All Atlantic community in support of the Belem, Galway and Washington agreements for the renewed All Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA). In RP3, clustering activities under WP10 and WP9, resulted in the organisation of a common summer schools and dissemination actions, as well as the organisation of a side event at the UN Decade Conference in Barcelona in April 2024. Additionally, initiatives have been implemented in RP3 to promote clustering with concurrent projects, developing collaborations across different organisations, to support mobility of researchers as well as to establish common PhD projects and to advance on a common research and innovation agenda for the implementation of AAORIA (see WP8 and WP9).

Key activities and achievements up to RP3 include:

Stakeholder Engagement: Efforts to increase stakeholder involvement were central, with activities implemented at both CS (WP1) and regional/basin levels (WP8, WP9).

Tool Development: Advances in local, regional, and basin-scale tools resulted in two deliverables in WP6 and WP2, with ongoing activities in WP1 and WP7. WP6 delivered four climate scenarios using global models, and methods for analyzing drivers, connectivity, and extreme events were agreed upon.

Technology Demonstrators: WP2 submitted D2.3 summarizing results from eight technology demonstrators focused on big ocean data storage and processing.

Community Mapping: WP3 and WP4 made progress in mapping pelagic and benthic communities, with WP3 focusing on scientific publications and WP4 on high-resolution benthic maps and habitat simulations.

Risk Assessments: WP5 tools and knowledge were transferred to WP7 for risk and vulnerability analyses. WPs 7, 6, 5, and 3 advanced the framework for risk assessments, focusing on climate stressors and blue economy sectors.

Educational Resources: WP8 delivered demos for an online IEA course, with resources distributed through fellowships and postdoctoral support.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main objective in MISSION ATLANTIC is to establish the risks posed by pressures from human activities, climate change and natural hazards, to the sustainable use of the Atlantic ecosystem at a global and regional scales. Five distinct and measurable objectives have been defined in terms of Scientific and Technical excellence (ST) and Educational and Outreach excellence (EO) and the table below provides a synthetic summary of the specific actions towards the achievement of the objectives.
- ST1: Assess ecosystems status and resilience in the whole Atlantic Ocean to cumulative and cross-scale impact of pressures, and consequences for food provision, climate regulation and cultural services. --> Present state assessment report submitted (D1.2) including a semi-quantitative risk assessment (D7.2) and indicator analyses (5.1 5.2 D5.3).
- ST2: Map the present and establish the future 3D distributions of Atlantic biomes and their pressures with respect to physical, biological, chemical and seafloor attributes to support the sustainable use of marine resources. --> Deliverables: D3.1 D4.2 D3.3 D3.4
- ST3: Develop new indicators, tools (process-based and statistical models) and technologies (information fusion, big data processing, machine learning) to identify risks and vulnerabilities of the Atlantic Ocean under different climate conditions and management scenarios.--> Deliverables on Indicator analyses (D5.1 D5.2) prioritization (D5.3) climate scenarios (D6.2) and technologies (D2.3).
- EO1: Formulate and transfer assessment guidelines, data and modelling tools into ecosystem-based management procedures, to support sustainable governance of marine resources and the development of the Blue Economy through dissemination, co-creation of management recommendations, and more general ocean-awareness activities involving regional stakeholders (e.g. NGOs, industry, ecosystem managers). --> List in Table 1.5 in Technical Report and activities in WP1, and WP9 and deliverable D9.3.
- EO2: Educate ocean resource managers and researchers in application of a systemic approach to ecosystem management (e.g. IEA), providing professional development opportunities and educational programmes with/in countries bordering the North, South and Tropical Atlantic Ocean. --> Mentoring at WMU, mobility, training and PhD Programme (in WP8), summer school and end-users engagement under WP9. Online course development under WP8.

AltMetric Infor for Social Attention

Impact chains (pressure – ecological components) linked to the Marine Strategy Framework directive.