AtlantECO

The ambition of AtlantECO is to develop and apply a novel, unifying framework for providing knowledge-based resources to design policies, support decisions making, and engage with citizens to encourage responsible behaviour to manage the Atlantic system and protect its Ecosystem Services (ES) provision. AtlantECO aims to determine the structure and function of the Atlantic microbiome in the context of ocean circulation and the presence of pollutants, e.g., plastics, to assess its role in driving the dynamics of Atlantic ecosystems at basin and regional scales; its potential of being used as a sensor of ecosystem state and the mechanisms by which it drives the provision of 5ES. This is key to improving our predictions on the future provision of ES in the basin and favouring the establishment of a sustainable Blue Growth strategy for an All-Atlantic community.

The EMSO project participation is linked with a set of activities aiming at generating new observations about microbiomes, plastics, and the plastisphere, using AtlantECO’s standard protocols during sampling activities in the Atlantic. (ESTOC).

EMSO MEMBERS/REGIONAL FACILITIES PARTICIPATING: PLOCAN (LTP)