Acronym SEED
Category
Aquaculture
Title Life history transformations among harmful algal blooms species and the environmental and physiological factors that regulate them Programme FP6
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
FP6 - Specific Targeted Research Project
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
Global Change and Ecosystems
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source European Coordinator Esther Garces Coordinator email esther@icm.csic.es
Coordinator institution
CSIC - Spanish National Research Council (Spain)
Institutions involved
FIMR - Finnish Institute of Marine Research (Finland) ,
ULUND - Lund University (Sweden) ,
CNR - National Research Council (Italy) ,
NUI Galway - National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland) ,
IEO - Spanish Institute of Oceanography (Spain) ,
SZN - Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Italy) ,
UH - University of Helsinki (Finland) ,
UNISS - University of Sassari (Italy) ,
UT - University of Tartu (Estonia) ,
UNIURB - University of Urbino Carlo Bo (Italy) ,
NA - University of Westminster (United Kingdom) ,
Start year 2005 End year 2008 Funding (€) € 2,006,215 Website https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/3875 Summary SEED aims to understand to what extent environmental and physiological factors may influence the non-vegetative stages of the life cycles of the harmful algal bloom (HAs) species, thereby contributing to the increase in harmful algal blooms (HAB) in European marine, fresh, and brackish waters. SEED will focus on the life histories of some of the most relevant HAB species in Europe The overall objectives are to improve and extend our understanding of the transition between different life history stages to identify the environmental and physiological factors that regulate those transitions, and, hence, the relative importance of anthropogenic vs. natural causes; and to integrate the recently acquired knowledge into the development of a new simulation model or refining existing ones. This will allow improved prediction, mitigation and management strategies. The approach of SEED is comparative, from species to ecosystem level. It is imperative to recognize common patterns of response among species to facilitate the development of conceptual and numerical models of HAB dynamics. SEED will focus on an array of target HAB species, ranging from marine to brackish to fresh water organisms, and covering a broad range of phylogenetic types. SEED research is multifaceted, as the problems in life history transitions are complex and processes occur over a wide range of scales. SEED will combine field studies with laboratory experiments. Field work is centred on areas where ongoing monitoring programs and much baseline information about distribution of species and physical-chemical data already exist. The areas to be studied comprise the regions bordering coastal sites of the Western Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, Baltic Sea, and Swedish lakes. All of these regions have heavy anthropogenic influences: fisheries, urban development, aquaculture and tourism. All are subject to the frequent occurrence of HABs, with a variety of detrimental impacts including human intoxications, closure of shellfish farms, water discoloration causing a negative impact on tourism, all with consequent economic impacts. The innovation is to implement the most appropriate research strategies to be applied to non-vegetative phases which determine the success of HABs and their expansion. Moreover, a mitigation strategy, analogous to sterile insect releases that are an effective element of agricultural pest control on land, will be investigated for the dormancy stages of harmful algae.
Keywords
Algae;
Biology;
Life cycle;
Monitoring;
Marine Region
29
West of Ireland (27.VIIb)
26
Northwest Coast of Scotland and North Ireland (27.VIa)
21
Southern Central Baltic-East (27.IIId.26)
6
Central North Sea (27.IVb)
13
Northern North Sea (27.IVa)
33
Bay of Biscay Southern (27.VIIIc)
18
West of Gotland (27.IIId.27)
30
Porcupine Bank (27.VIIc)
31
Southwest of Ireland-East (27.VIIj)
48
South Tyrrhenian Sea (GSA 10)
50
Sardinia (east) (GSA 11.2)
4
Eastern English Channel (27.VIId)
60
Western Ionian Sea (GSA 19)
22
Southern Central Baltic-West (27.IIId.25)
7
Irish Sea (27.VIIa)
16
East of Gotland or Gulf of Riga (27.IIId.28)
9
Western English Channel (27.VIIe)
10
Celtic Sea North (27.VIIg)
5
Southern North Sea (27.IVc)
53
Northern Spain (GSA 6)
20
Marine Region Map
