About

MARISCO will develop, merge and synthesize interdisciplinary, global knowledge for understanding the consequences of human actions for coastal and ocean sustainability and produce strategies and tools for effective management. Conservation – and the sustainable use of coasts and oceans – is no longer framed as protecting ‘wilderness’ spaces. Rather, it is focused on the interdisciplinary evaluation of adaptive management of socio-ecological sciences. Yet the management of marine ecosystems poses particular challenges compared with well-documented approaches in terrestrial systems, where area-based protection is the dominant conservation measure.

Many pressures in marine systems cannot be mitigated directly through 2-D area-based (geographical zoning) management options. The three dimensional character of the marineenvironment, and stressors including global warming, ocean acidification, fishing and mining are manifestdifferently at different ocean depths. Further, the fluid character of marine systems allows for highconnectivity, linking temporal and spatial dynamics across regions, and shifting management focus fromconserving good ecosystem status to keeping resilient ecosystem dynamics. A lively debate on the use ofmarine protected areas (MPAs) questions whether area-based protection is sufficient to manage marinesystems sustainably. At the same time, marine biodiversity exhibits more rapid and substantial temporalchanges than terrestrial biodiversity potentially caused by higher connectivity causing larger immigrationand emigration rates, demonstrating the need for better knowledge and in turn strategies and managementtools.

MARISCO project is part of the BELMONT Forum Call "Transdisciplinary Research for Ocean Sustainability". This Collaborative Research Actions (CRA) call aims to contribute to the overall challenge of ocean sustainability, using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development) as the overall framework.

Get further information about "Objectives", "Work Packages" or read the "German Summary".