Programme: ASSEMBLE Plus (EU Horizon 2020 R&I program)
Project title: MEioBenthic response to OXygen depletion and the role of sedimentary environment in the hypoxia phenomena
Acronym: MEBOX
Duration: 29 June 2020 – 29 July 2021
Project budget: Costs of the Transnational Access (TA) by UGENT and IOPAN
ISMAR budget: Costs of the Transnational Access (TA) by UGENT and IOPAN
Web site: https://www.assembleplus.eu/access/accepted-projects; https://www.assembleplus.eu/about
Summary:
The aim of this project was to investigate the response of the meiobenthic community under stress conditions induced by oxygen deficiency on the seabed in coastal areas, and to assess the extent to which sedimentary and depositional characteristics of the seabed may contribute to the development of the same hypoxic/anoxic phenomena. The approach was twofold: (i) a field activity to collect samples along the Belgian and Polish coastal area of the North Sea and Baltic Sea affected by oxygen deficiency in the recent past, and compare them with samples from pristine areas; (ii) a laboratory experiment in which hypoxic conditions are experimentally induced on sediment samples for a few days. The time series of environmental data and any observations made in the coastal areas of the Belgian North Sea and the Polish Baltic Sea were analysed and compared in order to better understand the seasonal behaviour and long-term evolution of hypoxia. Information and data were compared with those obtained in previous projects (e.g. Adriatic Sea) to identify coastal areas predisposed to hypoxia.
Contact person in ISMAR: f.alvisi@ismar.cnr.it
Partnership: CNR-IRBIM (Italia), CNR-ISMAR (Italia), UGENT (Belgio), IOPAN (Polonia)
