05-07-2019
International Network to Fight the Expansion of Submarine Deserts
Fighting the expansion of submarine deserts and improving environmental management to recover lost submarine forests are the main objectives of the initiative promoted by an international network of volunteers involving the researchers Bernat Hereu and Javier Romero, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the Faculty of Biology and the Institute for Research in Biodiversity of the UB (IRBio).
The algal forests that cover the rocks of the coast - refuge and source of food for many species of marine organisms, are disappearing in all the temperate seas and oceans of the world. As a result, the landscape of the seabeds is transformed into a submarine desert where there is only naked rock, in a progressive process that diminishes the natural capacity of the oceans to alleviate the effects of climate change.
Nowadays, the real extension of these deserts and their location in the majority of cases is still unknown. Researchers at research centers and universities in Spain, Norway, Australia and Italy, as well as members of associations and scuba-diving clubs around the world, have joined forces to fight desertification of the oceans. The initiative includes experts from the University of Barcelona, the CEAB-CSIC, the University of Girona, the University of La Laguna, the SEE initiative of the National Geographic group, the University of Tasmania (Australia), the University of New Wales the South (Australia), the University of Sassari (Italy), the University of Pisa (Italy), the NIVA Institute (Norway) and the citizen science network Observadores del Mar.
This line of international action, which will make use of aerial and underwater drones, will help to discover the location and extent of the deserts that are still hidden beneath the surface of the sea, as well as knowing the causes of their origin and the factors that affect its evolution As a final goal, experts also want to design proposals for environmental management and restoration methods to recover lost submarine forests.
Within the framework of the initiative, the Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) has promoted a microsite campaign that will support research activities and will also offer some compensatory activities (participation in immersions and research campaigns , etc.).
I want to contribute to the project !!
More information
The algal forests that cover the rocks of the coast - refuge and source of food for many species of marine organisms, are disappearing in all the temperate seas and oceans of the world. As a result, the landscape of the seabeds is transformed into a submarine desert where there is only naked rock, in a progressive process that diminishes the natural capacity of the oceans to alleviate the effects of climate change.
Nowadays, the real extension of these deserts and their location in the majority of cases is still unknown. Researchers at research centers and universities in Spain, Norway, Australia and Italy, as well as members of associations and scuba-diving clubs around the world, have joined forces to fight desertification of the oceans. The initiative includes experts from the University of Barcelona, the CEAB-CSIC, the University of Girona, the University of La Laguna, the SEE initiative of the National Geographic group, the University of Tasmania (Australia), the University of New Wales the South (Australia), the University of Sassari (Italy), the University of Pisa (Italy), the NIVA Institute (Norway) and the citizen science network Observadores del Mar.
This line of international action, which will make use of aerial and underwater drones, will help to discover the location and extent of the deserts that are still hidden beneath the surface of the sea, as well as knowing the causes of their origin and the factors that affect its evolution As a final goal, experts also want to design proposals for environmental management and restoration methods to recover lost submarine forests.
Within the framework of the initiative, the Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) has promoted a microsite campaign that will support research activities and will also offer some compensatory activities (participation in immersions and research campaigns , etc.).
I want to contribute to the project !!
More information