Current Projects
IDMA - Innovative Development of Multitrophic Aquaculture (EPAL 2018-2021)
IDMA project aims to develop Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) methodology suitable for the environmental conditions of Greece and to promote its economic and environmental benefits. IMTA promotes the sustainable use of marine resources, employing the Ecosystem Approach for Aquaculture, however, it has yet to be implemented at commercial scale in the Mediterranean region.
Globenth - Global scale quantitative patterns in the response of benthic organisms to environmental disturbance (HFRI 2020-2022)
Benthic macrofaunal communities have been used for at least 60 years to monitor the overall condition of marine ecosystems. The objectives of GloBenth project include the testing of a series of hypotheses on a global-scale, concerning the response of benthic macrofaubal communities to stress using the sensitivity-tolerance to disturbance scores developed in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive monitoring indices. More specifically:
a) Tolerance/sensitivity scores for families do not change significantly among regions (Mediterranean, Atlantic, Pacific etc.). b) The above scores and ranking vary considerably between regions, reflecting evolutionary variable pathways and coexistence of diverse taxa in different regions c) Test the above hypothesis using functional diversity and species distribution modeling To this end, macrofaunal species distribution data will be collected from different geographical coastal regions of the world. The data will originate from open databases (OBIS, GBIF etc), scientific literature and personal communication with scientists across the world. |
PINNA - Innovative Actions for the Monitoring Recovering - Enhancement of the natural recruitment of the endangered species (funmussel) Pinna nobilis (EPAL 2018-2021)
MEL is participating in WP3 (Task 3.4). The aims of this Task is (a) the geographical identification of areas that can be used as "reserves" - places that have suitable conditions to accommodate the relocation and protection of the species and (b) the modeling of biological and bioenergetic data of the species with environmental indicators such as substrate, eutrophication, salinity and temperature, as well as the dispersion of pathogens.
BENTHERM - Response of benthic communities to thermal disturbance (2021-2022)
This project is implemented in the frames of Action 6.3 of the RePHIL project. This project aims to study the effects of sea warming on benthic community structure and functioning through the study of organisms found in areas with thermal pollution. Areas where hot water flows will be used to (a) simulate climate change scenarios; (b) investigate whether long-term exposure to hot water changes the structure of the benthic communtiy and (c) whether this change is consistent with the Pearson and Rosenberg response to disturbance model.
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