Objective The objectives of the study are: * To study processes important for the carbon and nutrient cycling within a tidal flat ecosystem, and between the tidal flat system and the estuary. * Development of predictive mathematical models describing the processes and relating them to the main forcing factors for the tidal flat system. * Bridging the gap between the scales at which the processes operate and are measured, and the ecological target values for environmental management and prediction of the ecological consequences of global change.Tidal flats are important components of macro- and mesotidal estuaries all over the world, yet the mechanistic description of carbon and nutrient cycling within tidal flats and between tidal flats and the water column is far from complete. This description requires the multi-disciplinary study of physical, chemical and biological processes and fluxes at small spatial and temporal scales. In contrast, environmental management of estuarine and coastal areas requires answers and solutions to problems posed at larger scales (estuarine scale, regional scale). The project aims at bridging the gap between the smaller scales at which processes operate and are measured, and the larger scales relevant for management, by explicitly studying the small scale processes and by integrating them in mathematical models. The project's work programme is centered around five joint field campaigns by all participants. The first four of these are executed on a tidal flat in the Westerschelde estuary (S.W. Netherlands). Validation of the models and predictions will be done during a final campaign in a different estuary. The research is subdivided into three work packages. The first package focuses on the quantification and prediction of benthic-pelagic exchange mechanisms involving carbon and nutrients. Physical and biological processes in this exchange are considered; the processes are framed in the context of a detailed hydrodynamical modelling of the flat. The second package considers the processes of production, mineralised and transformation of organic material and nutrients within the sediments. Attention will be paid to primary production and to grazing processes within the benthic small food web. The sensitivity of the overall system to the dynamics of these internal interactions within the benthic system will be investigated. The third package integrates the measurements performed in the first and second packages into detailed mathematical process models for the biogeochemical processes in tidal flats sediments. The process models will be integrated into a general ecosystem model. Upscaling of the results of the process studies to the scale of the estuary will be considered by defining relationships between ecosystem target variables and key forcing factors in the estuary. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model Programme(s) FP4-ENV 2C - Specific programme of research and technological development in the field of environment and climate, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 01020201 - The functioning of ecosystems Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator ROYAL NETHERLANDS ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE Address 28,vierstraat 28 4401 EA Yerseke Netherlands See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (7) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) France EU contribution € 0,00 Address Avenue de la terrasse 91198 Gif-sur-yvette See on map MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT PUBLIC WORKS AND WATER MANAGEMENT Netherlands EU contribution € 0,00 Address 4330 EA Middelburg See on map Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap Belgium EU contribution € 0,00 Address 25,kliniekstraat 1070 Bruxelles See on map NERC Centre of Coastal and Marine Sciences United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Prospect place west hoe PL1 3DH Plymouth See on map Stichting Waterloopkundig Laboratorium Netherlands EU contribution € 0,00 Address 185,rotterdamseweg 2600 MH Delft See on map Universiteit Gent Belgium EU contribution € 0,00 Address 35,k.l. ledeganckstraat 9000 Gent See on map University of Southampton United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address European way SO14 3ZH Southampton See on map