Lead institution:
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung – Germany
ORCHESTRA combines interdisciplinary expertise on plankton and benthos, and underwater acoustics from six scientific institutions of four European countries.
The project will fill the knowledge gaps by conducting field studies across basins in order to compare behavioural and physiological impacts on invertebrate key species and communities. Combined with the field surveys, experiments will be carried out in a multiple stressor approach including anthropogenic underwater noise and warming scenarios, to allow cross-basin comparisons with different temperature regimes. Novel setups will be implemented in order to transfer experiments from the laboratory into the field in order to test noise effects under realistic conditions.
The resulting data will be combined with information on local soundscapes and species abundances to identify in turn areas with the largest risks of being affected by underwater noise. The results are expected to be applicable in strategies for the mitigation of impacts on marine ecosystem key species and communities and will contribute to the development of criteria and measures to reach Good Environmental Status in European waters.
Lead Contact: Maarten Boersma (maarten.boersma@awi.de)