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Past, present, and future status and mitigation for Cyprus shallow-water reef biodiversity and functioning under global change

Over the last century and recent decades, the Eastern Mediterranean has warmed faster than most other inhabited regions. In the marine environment, marine heatwaves result in dramatic loss of native species. Further, marine pollutants, like heavy metals and litter, are additional stressors that can be transported from the sediment/water column and bio-accumulate in food webs with direct impact on aquatic organisms and humans. Effective management and policymaking are therefore required for the conservation of regional biota. However, Cyprus still lacks capacities and knowledge in the Environment sector, though prioritised in the recently updated Smart Specialisation Strategy for Cyprus.

PUREEF-Y aims to enhance the progress of CMMI, the coordinating partner, towards scientific excellence and policymaking influence by deploying efficient and long-term capacity-building and networking activities with two internationally recognised Advanced Partners from IOLR (Israel) and ICTA-UAB (Spain), specifically selected for their top-class international recognition in the fields of chemical oceanography, marine ecology & experimental design (IOLR) and marine pollution, management plans & policy influence (UAB), and their complementary capacity to support CMMI.

Over 3 years, PUREEF-Y will result in a long-term linkage between the three partners who share the mission of better understanding past (paleo) and present ecological conditions and designing management plans for monitoring, conservation & restoration, and policy reforms for the future.

This project will focus on:

  • The physicochemical parameters collected from coastal sediments and waters (surface and column) which are likely to be affected by climate change and ocean acidification.
  • The marine pollution levels in key sites around Cyprus which are likely to disrupt ecosystem services.
  • The health status of key shallow water benthic and planktonic habitats that are highly ecologically diverse and are important for ecosystem functioning and carbon capture and therefore highly significant as Blue Carbon ecosystems (e.g., shallow rocky reefs and seagrass).

The collected data will then be analysed and interpreted by CMMI and the Advanced Partners to be used for designing and implementing in-situ benthic incubation experiments to investigate and determine the habitat provisioning and metabolic functioning of native and alien bioengineering species under normal conditions, as well as benthic mesocosm experiments to assess the risk effects of stressors (e.g., increased temperature and pollutants) under different scenarios, on key littoral biota. The results will be used to propose management plans for monitoring, conservation & restoration, and policy adjustments.

The activities of the project will go beyond the strictly scientific scope. As project coordinator, CMMI will launch many activities related to capacity-building & knowledge transfer, internalisation and networking. The project will support the mutual development, consolidation, and reinforcement of administrative, dissemination, networking and policy-making competencies.