RESTORESEAS: Marine Forests of animals, plants and algae

The bottom of the ocean has a great diversity of life. Pretty much like trees on land, corals, seagrasses and algae form the basis for a wide variety of marine ecosystems, which we call marine forests. Kelp forests, seagrass meadows or coral gardens are biodiversity-rich ecosystems that are home to specific communities of fish and invertebrates - ultimately a source of food for humans. The loss of these marine forests represents a catastrophic event causing loss of ecosystem services that are essential for humanity, including 1) nursery and feeding grounds for many marine species, 2) coastal protection against erosion, 3) counteracting climate change by carbon sequestration. Marine forests are disappearing at unprecedented rates and yet marine forest restoration is still rare. Our consortium comprises international teams with unique expertise and demonstrated success in open coast restoration of seagrasses, macroalgae and deep corals, for example, spanning the east, west and insular Atlantic Ocean. The project will move the field of marine restoration beyond the state of the art, by: 1) assessing the suitability and needs for conservation and restoration of marine forests, including forecasts for the future conditions, and by testing different scales and efforts of restoration to achieve post-restoration ecosystem stability, 2) testing the role of different species and their diversity in keeping relevant ecosystem functions, including the roles of microbiomes and pathogens associated with corals, seagrasses and macroalgae. 3) quantifying the long-term outcomes of conservation and restoration, developing for this purpose efficient indicators of ecosystem function, for example by using environmental DNA collected from the water and sediment to estimate total biodiversity in the area. The Natural History Museum Vienna (NHMW) and its team will co-lead several tasks of the project: the scientific and public communication, participation and outreach; the roles of the microbiome in restoration efficiency; and the restoration of cold-water coral habitat. By combining field and laboratory experiments with outreach activities for general public and targeted groups of stakeholders, NHMW will be a crucial partner in this project. Restoration of marine forests and their habitats is extremely challenging and this pioneer project is expected to become a role model for the global marine research community, but also by demonstrating the educational and upscaling value of ecosocial approaches.