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The HERMIONE project (Hotspot Ecosystem Research and Man’s Impact on European Seas) is a new interdisciplinary project co-ordinated by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. Funded by the European Commission’s Framework 7 Programme, it follows on the from the highly successful FP6 HERMES project.

HERMIONE sets out to investigate Europe’s deep-sea ecosystems in terms of their distribution, dimensions and interconnections, and how they might be (or are already) affected by global change – including climate change, human impacts and large-scale events.

To achieve this, the HERMIONE Consortium comprises 38 partner institutions around Europe, including leading experts on slopes and basins, cold-water corals, seamount ecosystems, submarine canyons and chemosynthetic ecosystems. In addition, the project benefits from a dedicated team of socio-economists and policy experts, who will work with our scientists to provide knowledge to policymakers in support of deep-sea governance and sustainable management of resources.

HERMIONE will examine deep-sea ecosystems around Europe’s margins, including:

•The Arctic, because of its importance in monitoring climate change; •The Nordic margin with abundant cold‐water corals, extensive hydrocarbon exploration and the Håkon Mosby mud volcano natural laboratory; •The Celtic margin with a mid latitude canyon, cold water corals and the long term Porcupine Abyssal Plain monitoring site; •The Portuguese margin with its highly diverse canyons;•Seamounts in the Atlantic and W. Mediterranean as important biodiversity hotspots potentially under threat; •The mid-Atlantic Ridge to link cold seep to hot seep chemosynthetic studies; •Mediterranean cold water cascading sites in the Gulf of Lions and outflows of the Adriatic and Aegean Seas.

At each study site, a range of multi- and interdisciplinary observations, measurements and experiments will be implemented to understand the ecosystems, their relationship to the surrounding physical environment, and how they might respond to change. As such, the project is underpinned by an ambitious cruise programme that involves over 1000 days of shiptime aboard Europe’s research vessel fleet.

Hotspot ecosystem research and Man’s impact on European seas

Environment and Resources

Above: Cold-water corals in the Whittard Canyon, Celtic Margin. Image taken by ROV Isis during cruise JC36, summer 2009. Copyright NOCS.

The multidisciplinary research under HERMIONE is designed to fill the knowledge gap about threatened deep‐sea marine ecosystems and their environments. It will reveal the impact of man on these ecosystems, both directly - e.g. via bottom trawling - and indirectly via climate change. The results will feed national, regional (EU) and global policy and decision makers with the information needed to establish policies to ensure sustainable use of the deep ocean.

For further information:

Prof. Philip WeaverNational Oceanography Centre, Southamptonppew@noc.soton.ac.ukwww.eu-hermione.net