FP6 IP HERMES Coordinated by Phil Weaver, National Oceanography - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

EC Contract No. GOCE-CT-2005-511234

FP6 IP HERMES Coordinated by Phil Weaver, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton

• Funded under the EC’s Global Change and Ecosystems FP6 programme
• Total project budget approx. €60M; EC contribution €15.5M.
• Project duration 4 years (April 2005 - March 2009)
• 41 academic partners plus 9 business partners from 18 countries.
• HERMES is led by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK.

HERMES is an international, multidisciplinary research HERMES is an international, multidisciplinary research programme programme investigating Europe's deep marine ecosystems investigating Europe's deep marine ecosystems and their environment and their environment

• Europe’s ocean margins cover 3 million km2 - a third of the landmass!
• The margins are host to a spectacular variety of unique habitats and

ecosystems, many only recently discovered.

• Marine organisms may contain economically important proteins and molecules.
• The EU is developing a European Maritime Policy, but it is difficult to legislate

for an environment that is largely unknown.

• Sustainable exploitation of maritime resources cannot be achieved unless the

potentially vulnerable ecosystems are understood.

• This applies equally to the consequences of climate change on marine

ecosystems.

Why study deep Why study deep-

• sea ecosystems?

sea ecosystems?

Economic activity in vulnerable Economic activity in vulnerable ecosystems can have severe ecosystems can have severe consequences consequences

Cold Cold-

• water coral ecosystems

water coral ecosystems

Integrated Ecosystem Management Roadmap Integrated Ecosystem Management Roadmap HERMES Maritime Policy Marine Strategy

• Physical character of margin processes
• Catalogue of margin processes
• Economic potential of ocean resources
• Socio-economic studies of multiple ocean uses and their

interactions

• Preparation of margin inventory atlases, GIS
• Establishment of a monitoring and evaluation programme
• Policy options for governance of IOM
• Enactment of new ocean law
• Formal government adoption of policies, goals, measures
• IOM implementation (incl. staffing and organisational changes)

European Marine European Marine Ecoregions Ecoregions

Study areas Study areas

Science areas:

• Open slopes

(includes landslides- red)

• Cold-water corals

(pink dots)

• Cold seeps

(yellow shaded)

• Anoxic microbial

(Black Sea)

• Canyons

(off Ireland, Portugal, S.France, Italy, Greece)

HERMES GIS:

Denoted by yellow boxes

Infrastructure & equipment Infrastructure & equipment

Submersible: JAGO ROV: Isis AUV: AsterX In-situ cameras In-situ experiments Landers

HERMES uses the latest in cutting-edge marine technology…

Infrastructure & equipment Infrastructure & equipment

…aboard a range of European research vessels

RRS James Cook RV Meteor RV Prof. Logachev RV Lophelia RV Pourquoi Pas? RV Urania RV L’Atalante RV Polarstern RRS Charles Darwin RV Pelagia RV Belgica RRS Discovery

HERMES science HERMES science

HERMES science HERMES science

HERMES science HERMES science

HERMES science HERMES science

HERMES science HERMES science

HERMES science HERMES science

HERMES science HERMES science

Not always plain sailing …….. !!

HERMES Publications HERMES Publications

Integration of Natural and Social Sciences Integration of Natural and Social Sciences

Slightly modified from Burbridge, Univ. Newcastle upon Tyne (ESF, 2002)

SOCIAL SCIENCES NATURAL SCIENCES Functions Margin Ecosystems Goods & services Users Hydrology Particulate transport Nutrient Flux Energy Geo-habitat description and classification GIS GIS HOTSPOTS HOTSPOTS

Environmental processes

….. to provide policy/management options

Training the next generation of marine scientists

TTR cruises and other ship-based schemes are invaluable for young scientists to gain experience at sea HERMES also provides dedicated workshops for graduate students on all aspects of HERMES science

Outreach & education Outreach & education

HERMES is also developing novel ways to communicate our research to the public, for example through collaboration with art students at the Zurich College of Art and Design