BenthOBS

The aim of BenthOBS is to create a national macrozoobenthos observation network. In a context of global change, it is crucial to have time series that can be used to highlight and understand the changes underway in terms of specific diversity within communities and their consequences on the functioning of marine ecosystems.

Objectives

• Understand the temporal trajectories of benthic macrofauna communities.
• Characterise the functional dynamics of these communities.
• Link the BenthOBS data with existing data on macrozoobenthos (BenthOBS-B database, Water Framework Directive (WFD), Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)), but above all with data from other national observation networks certified as National Observation Services (SNO): Coast-HF, SOMLIT, PhytOBS.
• More generally, in a scenario of established erosion of biodiversity, acquire naturalist knowledge of coastal marine species in mainland France, their number, nature and evolution.

Missions

Obtain a global vision on a national scale of the medium (sub-annual) and long-term (supra-annual) variability of macrozoobenthic communities, which is a determining step in predicting the long-term future of these ecosystems in the face of global change.