Southern European seas: assessing and modelling ecosystem changes (SESAME)

Description:

The general scientific objectives of SESAME were to assess and predict changes in the Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems as well as changes in the ability of these ecosystems to provide goods and services. The SESAME project gathered new data during multidisciplinary oceanic cruises. This exercise has provided a completely new picture of the Mediterranean and Black Seas as well as essential data sets for model validation. Predictions cover ecosystem responses to changes in climate and anthropogenic forces.

The SESAME study incorporated the effect of ecosystem variability on a variety of key goods and services. These included tourism, fisheries, ecosystem stability though conservation of biodiversity, and mitigation of climate change through carbon sequestration in water and sediments.

Scientists in marine biology, biodiversity, physical and chemical oceanography, and socio-economics collaborated to integrate the areas of natural and economic sciences. As both seas are prone to large changes during the time scale of the decade and even within a year, simulations using data from this range of disciplines promise to provide more accurate models of sustainability.

Sesame has viewed the Mediterranean and Black Seas as one interconnected large system. Identification of major regime shifts in the past 50 years and production of projected forecasts for the same time period in the future will help to create a sustainable management package for their ecosystems.

Project information

Lead

Hellenic Centre for Marine Research Dr. Evangelos Papathanassiou

Partners

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE France
P.P.SHIRSHOV INSTITUTE OF OCEANOLOGY - RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Russia
ORTA DOGU TEKNIK UNIVERSITESI Turkey
UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE Belgium
CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS Spain
CONSORZIO NAZIONALE INTERUNIVERSITARIO PER LE SCIENZE DEL MARE Italy
PANEPISTIMIO AIGAIOU Greece
INSTITUTE OF OCEANOLOGY - BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Bulgaria
ISRAEL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND LIMNOLOGICAL RESEARCH LIMITED Israel
ATHENS UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS RESEARCH CENTER Greece
BOGAZICI UNIVERSITESI Turkey
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Lebanon
CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE Italy
SOFIISKI UNIVERSITET "SVETI KLIMENT OHRIDSKI" Bulgaria
AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L' ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE Italy
FONDAZIONE ENI ENRICO MATTEI Italy
INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE-DEZVOLTARE PENTRU GEOLOGIE SI GEOECOLOGIE MARINA Romania
INSTITUT FRANCAIS DE RECHERCHE POUR L'EXPLOITATION DE LA MER France
A.O. KOVALEVSKIY INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGY OF SOUTHERN SEAS - UKRANIAN NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Ukraine
INSTITUT ZA OCEANOGRAFIJU I RIBARSTVO Croatia
ISTITUTO SUPERIORE PER LA PROTEZIONE E LA RICERCA AMBIENTALE Italy
ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI OCEANOGRAFIA E DI GEOFISICA SPERIMENTALE Italy
FONDAZIONE IMC CENTRO MARINO INTERNAZIONALE ONLUS Italy
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES - DIRECTORATE GENERAL JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE Belgium
INSTITUT NATIONAL DES SCIENCES ET TECHNOLOGIES DE LA MER Tunisia
MARINE HYDROPHYSICAL INSTITUTE - UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Ukraine
INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE - DEZVOLTARE MARINA "GRIGORE ANTIPA" Romania
NACIONALNI INSTITUT ZA BIOLOGIJO Slovenia
ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI GEOFISICA E VULCANOLOGIA Italy
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY AND FISHERIES Egypt
PANEPISTIMIO KYPROU Cyprus
INSTITUTION OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES THE SOUTHERN SCIENTIFIC CENTRE RAS Russia
STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA ANTON DOHRN Italy
IVANE JAVAKHISHVILI TBILISI STATE UNIVERSITY Georgia
UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA Spain
UNIVERSIDAD DE HUELVA Spain
UNIVERSITAET BREMEN Germany
UNIVERSITY OF CRETE Greece
UNIVERSITA TA MALTA Malta
UNIVERSITA POLITECNICA DELLE MARCHE Italy
UNIVERSITE DU LITTORAL COTE D'OPALE France
CARL VON OSSIETZKY UNIVERSITAET OLDENBURG. Germany
UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH United Kingdom
CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT LIMITED Cyprus
CLU SRL Italy
SOPAB BREST SA France
INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS OF NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF UKRAINE Ukraine

Source of funding

FP 6