WP leader
Mats Lindegart
Despite recent advances in ecosystem science and climate science, gaps still exist relating to how human activities on land and at sea affect offshore ecosystems’ resilience, loss of biodiversity, and climate change-induced ocean acidification and warming. This pillar conceives relevant scientific knowledge stemming from different disciplines (e.g. natural as well as social sciences) and including non-traditional and local knowledge. In order to advance scientific knowledge of ecosystems, biodiversity loss and climate change impact in Swedish offshore areas, this pillar will identify key data and knowledge gaps. Integrating new data sources (in collaboration with pillar 2) to advance our scientific understanding, this pillar provides integrated and adaptive change assessments, forecasts, and simulations of the ecosystems, and consolidate the best available knowledge and data of the ecosystems, the climate, land-sea interactions and the effect on biodiversity from blue economic and human activities, understandable by different audiences.
The purpose of WP1 is to gather key data and scientific knowledge including their gaps and help advance scientific knowledge about ecosystems, biodiversity loss and climate change impact in Swedish offshore areas. This will be done by using new and relevant data on the benthic and pelagic biodiversity and environmental characteristics, as well as existing and planned societal activities and pressures. The focus is on “interconnectors”: e.g., across functional parts of ecosystems, across different areas and environmental domains, and the interplay between socio-economic activities and the marine environment, including out at sea and on land. The specific objectives are:
- To synthesise current (gaps in) knowledge about health, resilience and vulnerability of the ecosystems, as well as biodiversity and the effects of climate change.
- To provide integrated and adaptive change assessments, projections, and simulations of the ecosystems, both by means of simplified analytical tools and by numerical tools and modelling.
- To integrate new data sources into the scientific knowledge system that are being advanced by WP2 and tested in the LivingLabs (WP4)