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UNESCO launches programme to study threatened coral species in mediterranean
Red gorgonians are an iconic species of coral, native to the Mediterranean. Like a network of trees, these animals are the building blocks of rich underwater forests. They play an essential role in marine biodiversity.
Gorgonians are not only a source of food, but also act as a nursery and a place of shelter.
But this summer, temperatures reached record highs. In the northern Mediterranean, this resulted in an episode of unprecedented mass die-off.
The results are alarming: between 0 and 30 metres deep, several sites showed almost all gorgonians dying within just a few days.
According to climate projections, events like these will become increasingly frequent. In the short term, gorgonian populations could be seriously threatened, and along with all the ecosystems that depend on them.
If we observed a mass die-off in the 20-30 sites in the Northern Mediterranean, we can hypothesize that the sudden and sustained spike in sea temperatures caused similar die-offs across the entire Mediterranean. This has catastrophic consequences for biodiversity. Because Red Gorgonnians are so dense, they create a forest-like habitat which creates a microclimate and sustains life forms which can鈥檛 exist in other parts of the ocean. When they die all forms of life which depend on them also die.
But beneath these shallow waters, the landscape changes dramatically and there is reason to hope. Here, at a depth of 50 metres, the gorgonians are perfectly intact. Could these deeper waters become a final refuge for the Mediterranean gorgonians?
To find the answers, UNESCO and the 1 OCEAN Foundation have launched a scientific exploration mission in collaboration with the French National Centre for Scientific Research. As we explore these depths, shipwrecks provide unique natural laboratories. By pinpointing the date of these wrecks, we can tell the exact age of the gorgonian colonies that grow on their hulls.
This will teach us how long it takes for gorgonians develop self-sufficiently, cut off from the surface by a zone made uninhabitable due to global warming and pollution.
But eventually, these shipwreck laboratories are doomed to disappear. So exploring them is both an ecological and a scientific emergency.
The reaction of the Gorgonians in the Mediterranean reflects what is happening across our planet. Like the Amazonian forest, the underwater animal forests are disappearing little by little, with consequences just as dramatic. For thousands of living beings, these forests are both a protective habitat and a food source and their disappearance inevitably leads to a loss of biodiversity.
Missions partners
1 OCEAN
1 OCEAN is an exploration project led by the photographer and explorer Alexis ROSENFELD with UNESCO and the 1 OCEAN Foundation under the aegis of the CNRS Foundation. The aim of the 1 OCEAN Foundation is to explore and document the seabed, by supporting scientific research missions, in order to better understand and protect the Ocean, an exceptional common good.
CNRS FOUNDATION
The purpose of the CNRS Foundation is to contribute directly or indirectly to the development and promotion of the CNRS, in all areas corresponding to its missions, as well as scientific and technological research, in France and abroad.
LECOB - CNRS
The Laboratory of Eco-geochemistry of Benthic Environments (LECOB) is a laboratory of the Oceanographic Observatory of Banyuls (OOB), a joint research unit (UMR) associated with the CNRS and Sorbonne University. The research activity of LECOB is focused on the study of marine biodiversity, ecology, resources and conservation, with a particular emphasis on benthic ecosystems.
ITV Lorenzo BRAMANTI - Chercheur CNRS
MEDIA CONTACTS
FONDATION 1 OCEAN - Jeanne RIVAL - contact@fondation-1ocean.com - +33 (0) 07 56 87 88 00
UNESCO - Fran莽ois WIBAUX - f.wibaux@unesco.org - +33(0)145680746
