Deep-sea Sponge Grounds Ecosystems of the North Atlantic: An integrated approach towards their preservation and sustainable exploitation

General Information

The objective of SponGES is to develop an integrated ecosystem-based approach to preserve and sustainably use vulnerable sponge ecosystems of the North Atlantic. The SponGES consortium, an international and interdisciplinary collaboration of research institutions, environmental non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, will focus on one of the most diverse, ecologically and biologically important and vulnerable marine ecosystems of the deep-sea - sponge grounds – that to date have received very little research and conservation attention. Our approach will address the scope and challenges of the European Commission’s Blue Growth Call by strengthening the knowledge base, improving innovation, predicting changes, and providing decision support tools for management and sustainable use of marine resources. SponGES will fill knowledge gaps on vulnerable sponge ecosystems and provide guidelines for their preservation and sustainable exploitation. North Atlantic deep-sea sponge grounds will be mapped and characterized, and a geographical information system on sponge grounds will be developed to determine drivers of past and present distribution. Diversity, biogeographic and connectivity patterns will be investigated through a genomic approach. Function of sponge ecosystems and the goods and services they provide, e.g. in habitat provision, bentho-pelagic coupling and biogeochemical cycling will be identified and quantified. This project will further unlock the potential of sponge grounds for innovative blue biotechnology namely towards drug discovery and tissue engineering. It will improve predictive capacities by quantifying threats related to fishing, climate change, and local disturbances. SpongeGES outputs will form the basis for modeling and predicting future ecosystem dynamics under environmental changes. SponGES will develop an adaptive ecosystem-based management plan that enables conservation and good governance of these marine resources on regional and international levels.
Hereon acceded to the project effective as of September 2017 and contributes to the work package entitled ‘Modelling and predicting’.

EU-Programme Acronym and Subprogramme Area	H2020-BG-01-2015
Project Type	Research & Innovation Action
Contract Number	Grant Agreement 679849
Co-ordinator	University of Bergen (NO)

Funding for the Project (€)	Funding for Hereon (€)
10,225,865	170,000

Contact Person at Hereon

Prof. Corinna Schrum, Institute of Coastal Systems - Analysis and Modeling Matter, Transport and Ecosystem Dynamics, KS, Phone: +49 4152 87 1833 E-mail contact

Participants

Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung AWI (DE), Bangor University (UK), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (ES), Ecology Action Centre (CA), Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees (US), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (IT), GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel (DE), IMAR-Instituto do Mar (PT), Instituto Espaniol de Oceanografia (ES), Natural History Museum (UK), Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NL), Studio Associato Gaia Snc Dei Dottori Antonio Sara e Martina (IT), Universidade Do Minho (PT), Universiteit van Amsterdam (NL), University of Bergen (NO), Uppsala Universitet (SE), Utrecht University (NL), Wageningen University and Research (NL)

Last Update: 16. April 2021