Line of action:

Knowledge generation and management

Status:

En ejecución

End date:

2026

Project web page:

https://www.biodiversa.eu/2023/04/19/petri-med/

The main objectives are:

1. Develop new satellite-based indicators to determine and monitor the status and trends in the composition and biodiversity of the microbial plankton community throughout the Mediterranean Sea.
2. Identify spatiotemporal patterns of distribution and diversity of the microbial plankton community.
3. Identify key drivers of biodiversity patterns, including ecological connectivity, natural and human drivers, focusing on key indicators of ocean health/biogeochemical status.

PETRI-MED will rely heavily on satellite optical radiometric measurements (referred to as Ocean Colour, OC), exploiting the combined temporal and spatial characteristics of the latest European OC data sets (i.e. Copernicus Sentinel-3 and European Space Agency OC-CCI) with state-of-the-art remote sensing observations and biogeochemical models (provided by Copernicus Marine), ocean current modeling and genomic techniques.

To achieve the goal of merging remote sensing, biogeochemical/physical modeling and in situ omics measurements, PETRI-MED will rely on artificial intelligence (AI).

The results of the project will be communicated at three levels:

1. monitoring results, best practices and policy recommendations through dialogue with stakeholders;
2. dissemination to the general public;
3. scientific results through peer-reviewed journals.

The overall objective of PETRI-MED is to provide policy makers and other stakeholders with the appropriate knowledge to:

• enable the adoption of prioritization approaches for ecosystem management based on quantitative and real-time metrics;
• design and implement different protection strategies and policies to protect biodiversity;
• quantify the results of actions implemented at the European level
• enable systematic, fact-based, evidence-based management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Key Biodiversity Areas and Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas;
• determine complementarity between MPAs through different mechanisms (e.g., UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Ramsar sites, private protected areas, etc.);
• assess the feasibility of MPA management in response to climate change.